Zheng Zhi facts for kids
Zheng with China at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 August 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Shenyang, Liaoning, China | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–2000 | Liaoning FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2000 | Liaoning FC | 4 | (0) |
| 2001–2004 | Shenzhen Jianlibao | 82 | (13) |
| 2005–2007 | Shandong Luneng Taishan | 45 | (31) |
| 2007 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2007–2009 | Charlton Athletic | 55 | (8) |
| 2009–2010 | Celtic | 16 | (1) |
| 2010–2022 | Guangzhou FC | 226 | (15) |
| Total | 440 | (69) | |
| International career | |||
| 2008 | China U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2002–2019 | China | 108 | (15) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2019 | Guangzhou Evergrande (caretaker) | ||
| 2021 | Guangzhou FC (caretaker) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Guangzhou FC | ||
| 2023–2025 | China (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
| Zheng Zhi | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 郑智 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄭智 | ||||||||
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Zheng Zhi (born 20 August 1980) is a famous Chinese football player and manager. He is currently an assistant coach for the Chinese national team. During his playing career, Zheng Zhi spent most of his time with Chinese Super League club Guangzhou FC. He was their captain and also stepped in as a temporary manager a couple of times.
Zheng Zhi started his career playing as a defender. Later, his coach, Zhu Guanghu, moved him to a central midfield position at Shenzhen Jianlibao. This change was a big success! He helped the club win the league title in 2004. After that, he moved to Shandong Luneng Taishan, where he scored many goals. He soon became the captain of the Chinese national team. This led to him playing for clubs in Europe, like Charlton Athletic and Celtic.
In 2010, Zheng Zhi returned to China and joined Guangzhou Evergrande (now Guangzhou FC). He played over 300 games as captain. He helped the club win many important trophies. This included the Chinese Super League a record eight times and the AFC Champions League twice. Guangzhou FC is the only Chinese club to have won this big Asian title.
Contents
Zheng Zhi's Club Journey
Starting Out in Football
Zheng Zhi began his football journey in 1990. He played for different youth teams in Liaoning. In 1998, he joined Liaoning Liaoqing in the China League Two. He started as a defender. In 2000, his club faced legal problems, which stopped him from playing professionally for a year.
In 2001, he was loaned to Shenzhen Jianlibao, a top-tier club. His former coach from the Chinese under-23 national team, Zhu Guanghu, was the manager there. Zheng Zhi officially joined Shenzhen in November 2001. Even though he started as a defender, he became a key player who helped create goals. He led Shenzhen to win their first-ever top-tier title. In January 2005, Zheng Zhi moved to another Chinese Super League team, Shandong Luneng Taishan.
Playing in England: Charlton Athletic
On 29 December 2006, Zheng Zhi went to play for Premier League team Charlton Athletic in England. This was a loan deal until the end of the season. He had tried out with the club in November 2006. His first game for Charlton was on 10 February 2007 against Manchester United. He came on as a substitute. He scored his first goal on 18 March 2007 in a win against Newcastle United.
Zheng Zhi went back to Shandong Luneng Taishan after his loan ended. He played one more game for them. Then, in August 2007, he returned to Charlton permanently. He signed a two-year contract. He scored seven league goals in the 2007–08 season. However, he was tired in the second half of the season.
In the summer of 2008, there were talks about him moving to West Bromwich Albion. But the transfer did not happen. On 8 July 2009, Zheng Zhi left Charlton. He could not agree on a new contract after the club was moved to a lower league.
Playing in Scotland: Celtic
On 1 September 2009, Zheng Zhi moved to Scottish Premier League team Celtic. He signed a two-year contract. He was the second Chinese player to join the club. The manager, Tony Mowbray, was very happy to sign him. Zheng Zhi could not play in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage because he was not registered in time.
He played his first game for Celtic on 4 October 2009 against Rangers. He scored his first goal for the club on 8 May 2010 in a win against Heart of Midlothian. He left Celtic at the end of the 2009–10 season. They could not agree on a new contract.
Returning to China: Guangzhou FC
On 28 June 2010, Zheng Zhi joined China League One team Guangzhou Evergrande for free. His first game was on 17 July 2010. He scored his first goal on 21 July 2010 in a big 10–0 win. In 2010, Zheng Zhi scored five goals in 11 games. Guangzhou finished first and moved up to the top league.
After moving up, Zheng Zhi became the captain of Guangzhou. He scored five goals in 25 games in 2011. Guangzhou won the top-tier title for the first time. This was Zheng Zhi's third league title with three different clubs. In 2012, the club won both the league title and the Chinese FA Cup. In 2013, they won their third league title in a row.
In November 2013, Zheng Zhi led Guangzhou to win the 2013 AFC Champions League Final. They became the first Chinese club to win this important Asian title. Zheng Zhi played the whole final game and lifted the trophy as captain. On 26 November 2013, he was named the Asian Footballer of the Year. He was the second Chinese player to win this award.
On 27 October 2019, Zheng Zhi became the temporary manager of the club. This happened when manager Fabio Cannavaro was temporarily away. On 5 December 2020, Zheng Zhi was made the general manager of the club.
Playing for His Country: International Career
Zheng Zhi joined the Chinese under-23 national team. He was the only player called up from the third division. He played his first game for the Chinese national team on 7 December 2002. It was a 3–1 win against Syria. He scored his first international goal on 29 January 2004 against Macedonia.
When Zhu Guanghu became the manager in 2005, Zheng Zhi moved to central midfield. He became the first-choice midfielder for the national team. Zheng Zhi was the captain of the under-23 national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Under manager Gao Hongbo, Zheng Zhi was made captain of the senior national team.
On 2 June 2018, Zheng Zhi played his 100th game for China. This made him the fourth Chinese player to reach 100 caps. On 16 June 2023, the Chinese FA held a special ceremony for Zheng Zhi before a game. He played a total of 108 games for China and scored 15 goals.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liaoning | 1998 | China League Two | – | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Shenzhen Jianlibao | 2001 | Chinese Jia-A League | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 26 | 2 | |||
| 2002 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 29 | 6 | |||||
| 2003 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 19 | 3 | |||||
| 2004 | Chinese Super League | 16 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 22 | 7 | |||
| Total | 82 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 18 | ||
| Shandong Luneng Taishan | 2005 | Chinese Super League | 18 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | – | 32 | 21 | |
| 2006 | 26 | 21 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | 32 | 22 | |||||
| 2007 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 45 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 68 | 45 | ||
| Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2006–07 | Premier League | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 1 | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 2007–08 | Championship | 42 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 45 | 9 | ||
| 2008–09 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 67 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 11 | ||
| Celtic | 2009–10 | Scottish Premier League | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 19 | 1 | |
| Guangzhou FC | 2010 | China League One | 11 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 5 | ||||
| 2011 | Chinese Super League | 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 27 | 5 | ||||
| 2012 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | |||
| 2013 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | 14 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 3 | |||
| 2014 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 13 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 2 | |||
| 2016 | 26 | 1 | 8 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 1 | |||
| 2017 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 1 | |||
| 2018 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 25 | 0 | ||||
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2021 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 226 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 326 | 19 | ||
| Career total | 440 | 69 | 45 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 77 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 583 | 94 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
| 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.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 January 2004 | Suzhou Sports Center, Suzhou, China |  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-Étienne, 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 |
Awards and Achievements
Zheng Zhi has won many awards and titles throughout his career:
With Shenzhen Jianlibao
- Chinese Super League: 2004
With Shandong Luneng Taishan
- Chinese Super League: 2006
- Chinese FA Cup: 2006
With Guangzhou FC
- Chinese Super League: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
- China League One: 2010
- AFC Champions League: 2013, 2015
- Chinese FA Cup: 2012, 2016
- Chinese FA Super Cup: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018
Individual Awards
- 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
In Spanish: Zheng Zhi para niños
- List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
