{"id":72367,"date":"2024-05-08T17:59:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi"},"modified":"2024-05-08T18:07:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:07:57","slug":"gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi","title":{"rendered":"Gatete names Karekezi and Mbonabucya in his all-time XI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>It\u2019s difficult to look past Jimmy Gatete and forget what he did for Rwanda as arguably the most talented player who famously scored important goals that led Rwanda to their historic Africa Cup of Nations 2004.<\/p>\n

Considered the best striker Rwanda has ever produced, Jimmy Gatete is one footballer whose playing days are embedded in the memories of many Rwandans who had a chance to witness his best moments of his career.<\/p>\n

The US-based football legend is in Rwanda where he is expected to attend the inauguration of the Kigali Universe, a sports and entertainment facility completed at the rooftop of CHIC building.<\/p>\n

The veteran enjoyed a successful career at club level with APR FC, Mukura VS, Rayon Sports and Ethiopian side St George and national team when he lifted Amavubi to AFCON 2004 in Tunisia.<\/p>\n

Gatete, who is among world\u2019s football legends expected in Kigali in September for the inaugural Veterans Club World Championship (VCWC), played alongside many good players at club and country including former Amavubi captain Desire Mbonabuka and Rwanda leading top scorer Olivier Karekezi but here is his best XI of his former teammates, according to public broadcaster (RBA)\u2019s Radio Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper: Eugene Murangwa<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Jimmy Gatete has clearly put Eugene Murangwa on his list in goal. Gatete said that Murangwa \u201cknew how to play with legs and also guide the team during the whole game\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gatete and Murangwa spent two seasons together at Rayon Sports, winning the titles of league title and Cecafa Kagame Cup in 1999 and enjoyed success together.<\/p>\n

Centre backs: Claude Kalisa and Le\u0301andre Bizagwira<\/p>\n

Gatete arrived at Rayon Sports joining Claude Kalisa in the club\u2019s first big-spending transfer window from Mukura in 1996.<\/p>\n

The pair eventually played a key role that would lead the team to the league and Cecafa Kagame Cup double in 1999.<\/p>\n

Gatete picked Kalisa as \u201cone of the best center backs\u201d he has ever seen in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Next to Kalisa, he picked former SC Kiyovu\u2019s Le\u0301andre Bizagwira as his partner at the back on national team duty.<\/p>\n

Gatete was close to unplayable at times during his spell at Rayon, but he heaped praise on Bizagwira and Kalisa for marshalling the then tightest defence in Amavubi during AFCON 2004 qualification.<\/p>\n

Right back: Hamad Katauti Ndikumana<\/p>\n

Gatete named late Katauti Ndikumana in his dream team, describing him as one of the best defenders in Rwanda. The duo enjoyed success together at Rayon Sports and Amavubi.<\/p>\n

Left back: Abdul Sibomana<\/p>\n

Gatete and Sibomana played together at Rayon Sports, APR and Amavubi. He described him as not only one of the best right backs that Rwanda has ever produced with quality to play any position when there the team is technically at crisis.<\/p>\n

Defensive midfielder: Janot Witakenge<\/p>\n

It was hard for Gatete to pick who, between former Rayon Sports midfielder Thierry Hitimana and late Janot Witakenge, would take up the midfield role, but it is the latter who made it into his dream 11.<\/p>\n

Witakenge was close to being unrivalled as the most dominant midfielder of his generation.<\/p>\n

The late Congolese midfielder, who played for Amavubi, shared the dressing room with Gatete at Rayon Sports and APR, where they played a significant influence in the side that won four league titles between 1996 and 2009.<\/p>\n

Central midfielder: Jimmy Mulisa<\/p>\n

Gatete said that Mulisa doesn\u2019t receive the praise that a player of his caliber deserves, despite playing top football as a professional over the course of 13 years.<\/p>\n

Attacking midfielder: Olivier Fils Karekezi<\/p>\n

Gatete said that any striker would love to have Olivier Karekezi orchestrating the midfield behind them, dictating the game and pulling markers out of position with his incisive passing.<\/p>\n

Karekezi, he said, was not just a teammate but a colleague.<\/p>\n

Left wing: Honore\u0301 Kabongo<\/p>\n

Some can’t remember him but possibly the first name on the team sheet once praised Honore\u0301 Kabongo for \u2018making his opponents look like chip.<\/p>\n

Gatete picked Kabongo with whom he shared good football memories during their time together at APR FC in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

Right wing: Desire Mbonabucya<\/p>\n

Gatete described Mbonabucya as \u201ca leader and one of the best forwards\u201d he has played with, thanks to his big role in motivating the dressing room during Rwanda\u2019s AFCON 2004 qualification.<\/p>\n

Striker: Jimmy Gatete<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t leave himself out. He may be remembered as Rwanda\u2019s hero as his goals against Ghana and Uganda carried the country to AFCON 2004, but<\/p>\n

Jimmy Gatete\u2019s XI:<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper: Eugene Murangwa<\/p>\n

Defense: Hamad Katauti Ndikumana, Abdul Sibomana, Claude Kalisa and Le\u0301andre Bizagwira<\/p>\n

Midfield: Janot Witakenge, Olivier Karekezi and Jimmy Mulisa<\/p>\n

Attack: Jimmy Gatete, Desire\u0301 Mbonabucya and Honore\u0301 Kabongo<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. It\u2019s difficult to look past Jimmy Gatete and forget what he did for Rwanda as arguably the most talented player who famously scored important goals that led Rwanda to their historic Africa Cup of Nations 2004. Considered the best striker Rwanda has ever produced, Jimmy Gatete is one footballer whose playing days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":72366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[760,763,5698,758],"class_list":["post-72367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-jimmy-gatete","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nGatete names Karekezi and Mbonabucya in his all-time XI - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s difficult to look past Jimmy Gatete and forget what he did for Rwanda as arguably the most talented player who famo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gatete names Karekezi and Mbonabucya in his all-time XI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s difficult to look past Jimmy Gatete and forget what he did for Rwanda as arguably the most talented player who famo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T17:59:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T18:07:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/05\/sm_1715178987.436861.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gatete names Karekezi and Mbonabucya in his all-time XI\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-08T17:59:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-08T18:07:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\"},\"wordCount\":790,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/05\/sm_1715178987.436861.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Jimmy Gatete\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/gatete-names-karekezi-and-mbonabucya-in-his-all-time-xi\",\"name\":\"Gatete names Karekezi and Mbonabucya in his all-time XI - 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