Chinese former international footballer (born 1978)
Li Weifeng
(
simplified Chinese
:
李?峰
;
traditional Chinese
:
李瑋峰
;
pinyin
:
L? W?if?ng
; born 1 December 1978) is a Chinese
football manager
and former international footballer.
Club career
[
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]
Tianjin Locomotive
[
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]
Li Weifeng started his football career with
Tianjin Locomotive
's youth academy before he was spotted by the Chinese national youth program to study football abroad in a training program sponsored by
Jianlibao
.
[1]
This then saw him called up to the
Chinese under-20 national team
and given a chance to play in the
1997 FIFA World Youth Championship
.
Loan to Everton
[
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]
Upon his return from the tournament, Li was returned to his initial youth team of Tianjin Locomotive until top tier club
Shenzhen Ping'an
showed an interest in him, not wanting to lose a promising young player a contract dispute would arise until a fee of 800,000 yuan was reportedly agree upon.
[2]
In the
1998 league season
he made his debut for the club and quickly established himself at the heart of the team's defense, guiding them to a 12th-place finish and doing enough to avoid relegation.
[3]
In the following seasons with Shenzhen, Li establish himself as an integral member of the team and would go on to represent his country in the
2002 FIFA World Cup
. With the exposure of the tournament, a short trial at
Premier League
side
Everton
immediately followed as part of an Everton deal with Chinese sponsor
Kejian
. His time at Everton he only made two appearances, playing once in the league against
Southampton
and once in the
League Cup
against
Wrexham
.
[4]
[5]
He was unable to make an impact at the club and returned to Shenzhen after the
2002-03 season
.
[6]
In the
2003 league season
, Li returned from his loan spell at Everton and was immediately incorporated back into the team. He was soon made club captain by then manager
Zhu Guanghu
and within his second spell at the club he would lead them to the
2004 Chinese Super League
title for the first time in the club's history.
[7]
After that success, Zhu Guanghu was offered the
Chinese Head coach
position and
Chi Shangbin
came in as his replacement. Unfortunately for Chi, results significantly deteriorated under his reign and Li along with several other members of the team in
Li Yi
and
Yang Chen
publicly criticized his management which resulted in his resignation.
[8]
Shanghai Shenghua
[
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]
In the beginning of the 2006 season, Li left Shenzhen due to the club's financial difficulties and followed many of his teammates out of the club.
Shanghai Shenhua
bought him for 6 million yuan despite reported interest from
Serie A
side
Fiorentina
.
[9]
Wuhan Guanggu
[
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]
In 2008, Li transferred from Shanghai to
Wuhan Guanggu
due to a lack of playing time for the league runners-up, reuniting him with his former manager
Zhu Guanghu
who also coached him in the
Chinese national team
as well as in Shenzhen. Soon after the transfer, Li was involved in an on-the-field scuffle with
Lu Jiang
which resulted in him being suspended for eight games by the
Chinese Football Association
.
[10]
Already on the verge of relegation, Wuhan amounted protests against this ruling which the club deemed to be unjust and extremely damaging to its chance to survive in the top flight. After its efforts were proven to be futile, Wuhan withdrew from the league and was disbanded and Li did not appear in any games for the rest of the season.
[11]
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
[
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]
Because of Wuhan's withdrawal, most of its non-local and highly paid players were put on the transfer list at the end of the season, with Li among them. Because of his reputation, high wage demands, gigantic transfer fee, and the unserved eight-game suspension, Li was a hard commodity to move despite being perceived as heads and shoulders above the rest of the Chinese defenders. But the new
AFC Champions League
rule came to his rescue as it allowed all tournament participants to have one foreign Asian player. Attracting heavy interest from both the Japanese and Korean leagues, Li moved to
K-League
side
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
in January 2009, signing a two-year contract for a reported $400,000 and reuniting him with another one of his former managers. Some pundits suggested that Li moved on a free transfer because Wuhan's withdrawal made all of its players free agents under FIFA's rules. However, Wuhan immediately released statements announcing its intention to obstruct the move if it was not at least partly remunerated and media reports stated that Li would pay his former club himself in order to play for the Korean outfit.
[12]
In his debut appearance, he was sent off against
Sparta Prague
in a friendly match in
Hong Kong
; however, Li redeemed himself in his first official match for Suwon in an AFC Champions League match in a 4-1 win against
Kashima Antlers
by scoring the opening goal.
[13]
Tianjin Teda
[
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]
On 18 January 2011, Li signed with
Chinese Super League
side
Tianjin Teda
and was named as the club captain.
[14]
On 20 July 2015, Li was released by the club midway through the 2015 season.
[15]
Tongji University
[
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]
In 2015, Li joined
Tongji University
in Shanghai before retiring at the end of the year.
International career
[
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]
Li made his first appearance for the
Chinese national team
on 22 November 1998 in a friendly match against
South Korea
, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
[16]
His performances for the national team would see him called up to China's squads for the
2000 AFC Asian Cup
and
2002 FIFA World Cup
.
[17]
In 2003, he was promoted to team captain by then manager
Arie Haan
and would lead China to a runners-up position at the
2004 AFC Asian Cup
.
[18]
In September 2006, he was banned from the national team for attacking an opposing player and hence earning his sixth red card in fourteen months during an
AFC Champions League
game with
Shanghai Shenhua
. His position as captain of the national team was stripped and later assigned to
Zheng Zhi
.
[19]
The ban was removed after a year, but since then he never had any significant role in the national team anymore. He returned as Captain during the
2014 World Cup qualifying
, but his return could not help China pass through the Third Round, after two shocking losses to
Iraq
.
[20]
Managerial career
[
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]
Li was appointed as the vice managing director of
Tianjin Quanjian
in September 2015.
[21]
Playstyle
[
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]
He has strength in a strong fighting spirit and an interpersonal mark. And the timing of the jump and heading is really good, so the ability to take control of the airborne ball is excellent.
Career statistics
[
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]
Club statistics
[
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]
International goals
[
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]
- Results list China's goal tally first.
#
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Result
|
Competition
|
1
|
12 December 1998
|
Bangkok
, Thailand
|
Oman
|
5
?0
|
6?1
|
1998 Asian Games
|
2
|
26 January 2000
|
Ho Chi Minh City
, Vietnam
|
Guam
|
4
?0
|
19?0
|
2000 AFC Asian Cup qualifier
|
3
|
3 September 2000
|
Shanghai
, China
|
Iraq
|
1
?0
|
4?1
|
2000 Four Nations Tournament
|
4
|
3 September 2000
|
Shanghai
, China
|
Iraq
|
3
?1
|
4?1
|
2000 Four Nations Tournament
|
5
|
22 April 2001
|
Xi'an
, China
|
Maldives
|
10
?1
|
10?1
|
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
6
|
13 May 2001
|
Kunming
, China
|
Indonesia
|
1
?1
|
5?1
|
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
7
|
7 September 2001
|
Doha
, Qatar
|
Qatar
|
1
?1
|
1?1
|
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
8
|
15 September 2001
|
Shenyang
, China
|
Uzbekistan
|
1
?0
|
2?0
|
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
9
|
16 February 2003
|
Wuhan
, China
|
Estonia
|
1
?0
|
1?0
|
Friendly international
|
10
|
17 November 2004
|
Guangzhou
, China
|
Hong Kong
|
7
?0
|
7?0
|
2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
11
|
22 February 2006
|
Guangzhou
, China
|
Palestine
|
2
?0
|
2?0
|
2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifier
|
12
|
21 October 2007
|
Foshan
, China
|
Myanmar
|
7
?0
|
7?0
|
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
13
|
25 May 2008
|
Kunshan
, China
|
Jordan
|
2
?0
|
2?0
|
Friendly international
|
14
|
15 November 2011
|
Singapore
|
Singapore
|
2
?0
|
4?0
|
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
Honours
[
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]
Club
[
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]
Shenzhen Ping'an
Shanghai Shenhua
Suwon Bluewings
Tianjin Teda
International
[
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]
China PR national football team
Individual
[
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]
See also
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References
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]
External links
[
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]