Chabala's heroics against Ghana in 1987 during an Olympic Games qualifier helped secure Zambia a slot at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Zambia had won their home leg 2–0 and travelled to Accra with the home fans expecting their team to carry the day. Ghana attacked from the word go, throwing everything at the Zambians who despite conceding a first half goal by Tony Yeboah, held on to qualify 2–1 on aggregate with man of the match Chabala pulling out all the stops, including saving a penalty from Emmanuel Quarshie.