Chinese footballer
Zheng Zhi
(
Chinese
:
?智
;
pinyin
:
Zheng Zhi
; born 20 August 1980) is a
Chinese
professional
football manager
and former player. As a player, Zheng played most of his career for
Chinese Super League
club
Guangzhou
, becoming their captain and serving also as their caretaker manager in two stints.
After starting his career as a
defender
, Zheng was later moved into a
central midfield
role by then head coach
Zhu Guanghu
at
Shenzhen Jianlibao
and experienced immediate success there by winning the 2004 league title with the club. A move to
Shandong Luneng Taishan
saw a prolific goal scoring period in his career and he soon became the captain of the
Chinese national team
, which then led to moves to
Charlton Athletic
and
Celtic
. He moved back to China in 2010 and joined Guangzhou Evergrande, making over 300 appearances as captain while helping the club win all major trophies a Chinese club could compete for, including
Chinese Super League
for a record 8 times and
AFC Champions League
twice.
Club career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Zheng Zhi started his football career in 1990 playing for various Liaoning youth academies before playing for
Liaoning Liaoqing
in 1998 in the
China League Two
, starting out playing as a defender.
[2]
In 2000, Liaoning Youth were involved in a legal battle between
Yixing Industrial Co., Ltd.
and Liaoning Sports School for the ownership of the club that saw all their assets frozen, including player transfer rights. This saw Zheng spend a year without playing professional football. In 2001, he was loaned to top-tier club
Shenzhen Jianlibao
who were coached by then manager
Zhu Guanghu
, his former manager during his time with the
Chinese under-23 national team
. He transferred to the club in November 2001 for a fee of ¥3.5 million.
[3]
While he was initially deployed as a defender, he shifted into a more of a playmaker role and aided Shenzhen to the top tier title for the first time in the club's history. In January 2005, Zheng transferred to fellow
Chinese Super League
side
Shandong Luneng Taishan
for a transfer fee of ¥9.5 million.
[4]
Charlton Athletic
[
edit
]
On 29 December 2006, Zheng was loaned out to
Premier League
side
Charlton Athletic
until the end of the season with an option to buy. He had been on trial with the club in November 2006. He made his debut for the club on 10 February 2007 in a 2?0 loss against
Manchester United
, coming on as a substitute for
Amdy Faye
. He scored his first goal on 18 March 2007 in a 2?0 win against
Newcastle United
.
[5]
Zheng returned to
Shandong Luneng Taishan
at the end of the 2006?07 season under the terms of his loan deal. He played once more for the club in a 6?1 loss against
Beijing Guoan
before he returned to Charlton on a permanent deal in August 2007. He joined for a fee of £2 million and signed a two-year contract with the club.
[6]
He scored a total of seven league goals in the 2007?08 season; however, he was less effective in the second half of the season as a result of fatigue.
[7]
In the summer of 2008, Zheng was heavily linked with a transfer to
West Bromwich Albion
. Although Charlton were in negotiations with the club up to the end of the transfer window, the transfer failed to materialise.
[8]
On 8 July 2009, Zheng left Charlton after failing to agree a new contract with the club following its relegation to
League One
.
[9]
Celtic
[
edit
]
On 1 September 2009, Zheng transferred to
Scottish Premier League
side
Celtic
, signing a two-year contract and becoming the second Chinese footballer to sign for the club after
Du Wei
.
[10]
Then manager
Tony Mowbray
affirmed his long held admiration for Zheng and expressed his delight at the signing.
[11]
Zheng was unable to play for the club in the group stage of the
2009?10 UEFA Europa League
after
UEFA
confirmed that he was not registered in time.
[12]
He made his debut for the club on 4 October 2009 in a 2?1 loss against
Rangers
, winning a penalty.
[13]
He scored his first goal for the club on 8 May 2010 in a 2?1 win against
Heart of Midlothian
.
[14]
[15]
He was released by the club at the end of the 2009?10 season after failing to agree to a new contract.
[16]
Guangzhou
[
edit
]
On 28 June 2010, Zheng joined
China League One
side
Guangzhou Evergrande
on a free transfer.
[17]
He made his debut for the club on 17 July 2010 in a 1?1 draw against
Hubei Luyin
. He scored first goal for the club 21 July 2010 in a 10?0 win against
Nanjing Yoyo
. In the 2010 season, Zheng scored five goals in 11 appearances as Guangzhou finished first place in the second division and won promotion back to the top tier.
After promotion to the
Chinese Super League
, Zheng took over as captain of the club as former captain
Li Zhihai
transferred to
Guangdong Sunray Cave
. Zheng scored five times in 25 appearances during the 2011 season as Guangzhou won the top tier title for the first time in the club's history, giving Zheng his third league title with three clubs. In the 2012 season, the club won the domestic double by winning the league title and the
Chinese FA Cup
; and in the
2013 season
, won a third consecutive league title. In November 2013, Zheng captained Guangzhou to victory in the
2013 AFC Champions League Final
as the club became the first Chinese club ever to win the
AFC Champions League
, and Zheng Zhi played the full game of the final, lifting the silverware as the captain.
[18]
On 26 November 2013, Zheng was named the
Asian Footballer of the Year
by the
Asian Football Confederation
, becoming the second Chinese footballer to win the award after
Fan Zhiyi
in 2001.
[19]
On 27 October 2019, Zheng became the caretaker of the club when manager
Fabio Cannavaro
was temporarily relieved of his position and sent to corporate culture training until 3 November 2019.
[20]
[21]
On 5 December 2020, upon the club's elimination from the
2020 AFC Champions League
group stage, Zheng was appointed general manager of the club.
[22]
International career
[
edit
]
Zheng joined the
Chinese under-23 national team
as the only player called up from the third tier. He made his debut for the
Chinese national team
on 7 December 2002 in a 3?1 win against
Syria
.
[23]
He scored his first international goal on 29 January 2004 in a 1?0 win against
Macedonia
.
[24]
After
Zhu Guanghu
took over as the manager in 2005, he was shifted into centre midfield and cemented his spot as the national team's first choice midfielder. Zheng captained the under-23 national team that competed at the
2008 Summer Olympics
.
[25]
Under
Gao Hongbo
's management, Zheng was appointed captain of the national team. In an interview on 3 August 2016, Zheng said, "This is the last time I will be in the final stage of FIFA World Cup qualification," indicating that after the
2018 FIFA World Cup
, he would retire from the national team.
[26]
On 2 June 2018, Zheng won his
100th cap
for China in a 2?0 win against
Thailand
, making him the fourth Chinese footballer to win 100 caps.
[27]
On 16 June 2023, the Chinese FA held a retirement ceremony for Zheng prior to the national team's 4-0 win against
Myanmar
in Dalian. Zheng eventually played 108 games for China and scored 15 goals.
[28]
Career statistics
[
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]
Club
[
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]
International
[
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]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
China
|
2002
|
3
|
0
|
2003
|
4
|
0
|
2004
|
21
|
9
|
2005
|
3
|
1
|
2006
|
5
|
1
|
2007
|
3
|
0
|
2008
|
6
|
1
|
2009
|
4
|
0
|
2010
|
0
|
0
|
2011
|
10
|
1
|
2012
|
5
|
0
|
2013
|
11
|
0
|
2014
|
5
|
2
|
2015
|
12
|
0
|
2016
|
2
|
0
|
2017
|
4
|
0
|
2018
|
6
|
0
|
2019
|
4
|
0
|
Total
|
108
|
15
|
- Scores and results list China's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zhang goal.
List of international goals scored by Zhang Linpeng
No.
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Result
|
Competition
|
1
|
29 January 2004
|
Suzhou Sports Center
,
Suzhou
, China
|
North Macedonia
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
Friendly
|
2
|
7 February 2004
|
Shenzhen Stadium
,
Shenzhen
, China
|
Finland
|
2?1
|
2?1
|
Friendly
|
3
|
17 March 2004
|
Huangpu Sports Center
,
Guangzhou
, China
|
Myanmar
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
Friendly
|
4
|
1 June 2004
|
TEDA Football Stadium
,
Tianjin
, China
|
Hungary
|
2?1
|
2?1
|
Friendly
|
5
|
10 July 2004
|
Hohhot People's Stadium
,
Hohhot
, China
|
United Arab Emirates
|
1?2
|
2?2
|
Friendly
|
6
|
2?2
|
7
|
17 July 2004
|
Workers Stadium
,
Beijing
, China
|
Bahrain
|
1?1
|
2?2
|
2004 AFC Asian Cup
|
8
|
30 July 2004
|
Workers Stadium, Beijing, China
|
Iraq
|
2?0
|
3?0
|
2004 AFC Asian Cup
|
9
|
3?0
|
10
|
22 June 2005
|
Tianhe Stadium
, Guangzhou, China
|
Costa Rica
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
Friendly
|
11
|
7 June 2006
|
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
,
Saint-Etienne
, France
|
France
|
1?1
|
1?3
|
Friendly
|
12
|
6 February 2008
|
Al-Rashid Stadium
,
Dubai
, United Arab Emirates
|
Iraq
|
1?1
|
1?1
|
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
13
|
2 September 2011
|
Tuodong Stadium
,
Kunming
, China
|
Singapore
|
1?1
|
2?1
|
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
|
14
|
14 October 2014
|
Helong Stadium
,
Changsha
, China
|
Paraguay
|
1?0
|
2?1
|
Friendly
|
15
|
14 November 2014
|
Jiangxi Olympic Sports Center
,
Nanchang
, China
|
New Zealand
|
1?0
|
1?1
|
Friendly
|
Honours
[
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]
Shenzhen Jianlibao
Shandong Luneng Taishan
Guangzhou
- Chinese Super League:
2011
,
2012
,
2013
,
2014
,
2015
,
2016
,
2017
,
2019
[30]
- China League One
:
2010
[31]
- AFC Champions League
:
2013
,
2015
- Chinese FA Cup:
2012
,
[32]
2016
[33]
- Chinese FA Super Cup
:
2012
,
2016
,
2017
,
2018
Individual
- AFC Asian Cup
All-Star Team:
2004
- Asian Footballer of the Year
: 2013
- AFC Champions League
Dream Team:
2013
,
2015
- Chinese Football Association
Player of the Year:
2002
,
2006
- Chinese Super League
Team of the Year:
2002
,
2003
,
2004
,
2005
,
2006
,
2012
,
2013
,
2014
,
2015
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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Awards
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1999
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2001
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2004
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2006
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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2011
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2012
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2013
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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- No selection due to the COVID-19 pandemic
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2021
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2022
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2023
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