Lelo Mbele

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Lelo Mbele

| image =

| full_name = Blaise Lelo Mbele

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1987|08|10}}

| birth_place = Kalemie, Zaire

| height = 1.74 m

| position = Striker

| currentclub =

| years1 = 2003–2004

| clubs1 = AS Vita Club

| caps1 = 32

| goals1 = 19

| years2 = 2004–2005

| clubs2 = Zulu Royals

| caps2 = 29

| goals2 = 7

| years3 = 2005–2007

| clubs3 = Orlando Pirates

| caps3 = 31

| goals3 = 7

| years4 = 2007

| clubs4 = CS Sfaxien

| caps4 =

| goals4 =

| years5 = 2007–2008

| clubs5 = Al-Hilal

| caps5 = 7

| goals5 = 2

| years6 = 2008–2009

| clubs6 = Espérance

| caps6 = 1

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2009–2010

| clubs7 = Al-Hilal Omdurman

| caps7 =

| goals7 =

| years8 = 2010–2011

| clubs8 = Al-Nasr Benghazi

| caps8 =

| goals8 =

| years9 = 2011

| clubs9 = Al-Nasr

| caps9 =

| goals9 =

| years10 = 2011

| clubs10 = Şanlıurfaspor

| caps10 =

| goals10 =

| years11 = 2011–2012

| clubs11 = Selangor FA

| caps11 = 0

| goals11 = 0

| years12 = 2012–2014

| clubs12 = MC Alger

| caps12 = 5

| goals12 = 0

| years13 = 2012–2013

| clubs13 = → CA Batna (loan)

| caps13 = 4

| goals13 = 0

| years14 = 2014–2015

| clubs14 = Petro Atlético

| caps14 = 4

| goals14 = 0

| years15 = 2015–2016

| clubs15 = DC Motema Pembe

| caps15 = 15

| goals15 = 8

| years16 = 2016–2017

| clubs16 = Baf Ülkü Yurdu

| caps16 = 15

| goals16 = 2

| years17 = 2017

| clubs17 = Gokulam Kerala

| caps17 = 3

| goals17 = 0

| years18 = 2018

| clubs18 = Al-Ahli

| nationalyears1 = 2004–2013

| nationalteam1 = DR Congo

| nationalcaps1 = 13

| nationalgoals1 = 1

}}

Blaise Lelo Mbele (born 10 August 1987) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. Lelo played for different professional clubs such as South African club Orlando Pirates and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal FC.

Club career

Mbele helped CS Sfaxien win the CAF Confederation Cup.

On 29 November 2007, Mbele signed with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia for a fee of $25000 per month to the player and $1.2M to his former club.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}

He made his Saudi Premier League debut for Al Hilal in a 1–0 away win over Al Watani on 5 December 2007. His first goal for Al Hilal came in a 2–0 victory against Al Ittifaq on 10 December 2007.

In 2008, he joined Tunisian side Espérance.

In January 2009, Mbele signed with Sudanese club Al-Hilal for $1 million deal on a three-year contract. The player's agent cited the financial strength and success of the Al-Hilal to be the favoring deciding factors that made Mbele choose the Sudanese club. He did not have a good season with Al Hilal so Al Nasr of Libya choose to buy him.{{cite news |title=Lelo-Mbele in the money again |url=http://www.kickoff.com/static/news/article.php?id=7133 |publisher=kickoff.com |date=3 March 2009 |accessdate=11 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409010542/http://www.kickoff.com/static/news/article.php?id=7133 |archive-date=9 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}

On 12 July 2011, Mbele signed with Kuwaiti club Al Naser.{{Cite web|url=http://www.alraimedia.com/Alrai/Article.aspx?id=286716&date=12072011|title=الصفحة غير موجودة – Alraimedia.com|website=alraimedia.com|access-date=2018-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004223250/http://www.alraimedia.com/Alrai/Article.aspx?id=286716&date=12072011|archive-date=4 October 2011|url-status=dead|language=ar}} On 28 July 2011, Al Naser terminated their contract with Mbele after he ruptured a muscle.{{Cite web|url=https://www.alanba.com.kw/215472|title=العدواني لـ الأنباء النصر يفسخ عقد الكونغولي أمبيولي|website=alanba.com.kw|language=ar|access-date=25 March 2022|archive-date=25 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325093131/https://www.alanba.com.kw/215472|url-status=live}}

After being a free agent for four months, he eventually joined the Malaysian club, Selangor FA in a two-year contract alongside Lebanese international, Ramez Dayoub.{{cite web|url=http://www.sinarharian.com.my/arena-bolasepak/liga-malaysia/mbele-dayoub-perkuat-gergasi-merah-1.10355|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713031315/http://www.sinarharian.com.my/arena-bolasepak/liga-malaysia/mbele-dayoub-perkuat-gergasi-merah-1.10355|archivedate=2012-07-13|url-status=dead |title=Mbele, Dayoub perkuat Gergasi Merah|date=6 December 2011|language=Malay}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/MerahKuningambilrisiko/Article|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107052842/http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/MerahKuningambilrisiko/Article|archivedate=2012-01-07|url-status=dead|title=Merah Kuning ambil risiko|language=Malay|date=7 January 2012}} However, due to his injury, Lelo did not manage to play for any games with Selangor and later was released by the Football Association of Selangor.{{cite news|title=Selangor give Congo flop the axe|url=http://football.thestar.com.my/2012/01/20/selangor-give-congo-flop-the-axe/|department=Football Every Day|work=The Star|location=Malaysia|date=20 January 2012|accessdate=25 April 2012|archive-date=23 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123211101/http://football.thestar.com.my/2012/01/20/selangor-give-congo-flop-the-axe/|url-status=dead}}

On 13 August 2012, Mbele signed for Algerian club MC Alger for a two-year contract.{{cite web|url=http://www.competition.dz/Actualite/-MCA-:-Blaise-Lelo-Mbele-debarque-a-Alger|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816050621/http://www.competition.dz/Actualite/-MCA-:-Blaise-Lelo-Mbele-debarque-a-Alger|archivedate=2012-08-16|url-status=dead|title= MCA : Blaise Lelo Mbele débarque à Alger |website=competition.dz|date=14 August 2012}}

Bahrain became his fifteenth footballing country when he joined Al-Ahli Club.{{NFT player|pid=12485}}{{cite news|url=https://www.soccerladuma.co.za/fan-park/throwback-thursday/tbt-blaise-lelo-mbele-pirates-drc-magician/668430|title=TBT: Blaise Lelo Mbele, Pirates' DRC Magician|date=28 November 2019|publisher=Soccer Laduma.co.za|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=21 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921161545/https://www.soccerladuma.co.za/fan-park/throwback-thursday/tbt-blaise-lelo-mbele-pirates-drc-magician/668430|url-status=live}}

In 2017, Mbele moved to India after signing with newly formed I-League club Gokulam Kerala.{{cite web|first=Abhishek|last=Kundu|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/i-league-2018-19-gokulam-fc-rope-in-haitian-midfielder-fabien-vorbe|date=23 January 2017|access-date=20 March 2021|title=I-League 2018-19: Gokulam FC rope in Haitian midfielder Fabien Vorbe|website=sportskeeda.com|publisher=Sportskeeda|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203103253/https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/i-league-2018-19-gokulam-fc-rope-in-haitian-midfielder-fabien-vorbe|archive-date=3 February 2019|url-status=live}}

International career

Mbele was a member of the DR Congo national team at the 2006 African Nations Cup, which progressed to the quarter-finals, where it were eliminated by Egypt, which won the tournament.

:Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbele goal.

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of international goals scored by Lelo Mbele
scope="col"\|No. !scope="col"\|Date !scope="col"\|Venue !scope="col"\|Opponent !scope="col"\|Score !scope="col"\|Result !scope="col"\|Competition !scope="col" class="unsortable"\|{{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference}}
style="text-align:center"\|1 \|{{dts\|3 September 2006}} \|Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo \|{{fb\|Namibia}} \|style="text-align:center"\|1–0 \|style="text-align:center"\|3–2 \|2008 African Cup of Nations qualification \|{{cite web\|title=DR Congo vs. Namibia\|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/1344/Dr_Congo_Namibia.html\|website=National Football Teams\|access-date=4 September 2024}}

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Lelo Mbele

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

style="text-align:center"|1

|{{dts|3 September 2006}}

|Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

|{{fb|Namibia}}

|style="text-align:center"|1–0

|style="text-align:center"|3–2

|2008 African Cup of Nations qualification

|{{cite web|title=DR Congo vs. Namibia|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/1344/Dr_Congo_Namibia.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=4 September 2024}}