Zheng Zhi

Zheng Zhi

Personal information
Full name	Zheng Zhi
Date of birth	20 August 1980 (1980-08-20) (age 30)
Place of birth	Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Guangzhou FC
Number	28
Youth career
1999–2000	Liaoling Chuangye
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2004	Shenzhen Ruby	67	(14)
2005–2007	Shandong Luneng	44	(29)
2007	→ Charlton Athletic (loan)	12	(1)
2007–2009	Charlton Athletic	55	(8)
2009–2010	Celtic	16	(1)
2010–	Guangzhou Evergrande	5	(3)
National team‡
2002–	China	49	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 August 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:55, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zheng.

Zheng Zhi (simplified Chinese: 郑智; traditional Chinese: 鄭智; pinyin: Zhèng Zhì, born August 20, 1980 in Shenyang, Liaoning) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Guangzhou FC. Starting his career as a defender, he would be moved into central midfield by his coach at Shenzhen Jianlibao and experienced immediate success there by winning the 2004 league title with them. A move to Shandong Luneng would see a prolific period in Zheng's career and he would become the captain of the Chinese national team, which then lead to moves to Charlton Athletic and Celtic.

Club career

China

In 1999, his club Liaoning Chuangye were involved in legal trouble and all assets of the club were frozen, including player transfers rights. After a year without playing professional football, he was transferred to Shenzhen Jianlibao, then coached by Zhu Guanghu, his former coach in the U-23 national team. At Shenzhen he transformed himself in a playmaker, however, he played as a defender under Arie Haan in the national team.

Charlton Athletic

He joined Charlton Athletic on loan on 29 December 2006 until the end of the season, with Charlton having an option to buy him. He was the first official signing of new manager Alan Pardew, though he had been on trial with the Addicks in November 2006 under previous manager Les Reed. He had scored 29 goals for Shandong Luneng as they won the national league title earlier in the year. Zheng made his Premier League debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford when he replaced the injured Amdy Faye. His first goal came on his first start against Newcastle United in March 2007.^[1]

He returned to his parent club, Shandong Luneng, at the end of the 2006–07 season per the terms of his loan deal. He played once more for Shandong in 2007, in a 6–1 defeat to Beijing Guoan, before he returned to England to join Charlton in a permanent deal in August 2007. He joined for a fee of £2million and signed a two-year contract.^[2] In a March 2008 edition of British football magazine FourFourTwo, Zheng was voted the fifth best player in the Football League.^[3] He scored a total of seven league goals in the Championship season. However, because of the number games he played for both Charlton and the Chinese national team he was less effective in the second half of the season as a result of fatigue.^[4]

In the summer of 2008, Zheng was heavily linked with a transfer to West Bromwich Albion. Although Charlton were in negotiations with the Baggies up to the end of the transfer window,^[5] the transfer failed to materialise.

On 8 July 2009, Zheng left Charlton after failing to agree a new contract with the London club following its relegation to third-tier League One.^[6]

Celtic

On 1 September 2009 Zheng became the second Chinese player, after Du Wei, to sign for Celtic after penning a two-year contract.^[7] Manager Tony Mowbray affirmed his long held admiration for the player and expressed his delight in the signing.^[8] Zheng is not able to play in Celtic's Europa League group games after UEFA confirmed he was not registered in time.^[9]

He made his debut on 4 October 2009, in the Old Firm derby against Rangers. He was fouled in the box to give Celtic a penalty, scored by Aiden McGeady to make it 2–1 to Rangers. Zheng was substituted for Paddy McCourt after 70 minutes.^[10]

Zheng scored his first Celtic goal in the Scottish Premier League match v Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle on Sunday 8th May 2010. Zheng scored the second goal in a 2-1 victory with a superb scissor kick from 12 yards out. On 1 July 2010, he was released by Celtic.^[11]

Return to China

On 28 June, 2010, Zheng return to China and signed for China League One club Guangzhou FC on a free transfer^[12][13]. He made his League One debut against Hubei Greenery on 17 July 2010 and scored first goal for Guangzhou 4 days later, in a 10-0 home win against Nanjing Yoyo.

International career

Zheng joined the U-23 national team as the only player from the third division Yi League. Under Bobby Houghton, he mainly appeared at the right back position. After Zhu Guanghu took over the national team, he appeared in midfield more often.

Zheng was the captain of the Chinese national team that competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[14]

Club career stats

Correct as of 7 August 2010

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Competition
1	29 January 2004	Shanghai, China PR	Macedonia	1–0	Friendly
2	7 February 2004	Shenzhen, China PR	Finland	2–1	Friendly
3	17 March 2004	Guangzhou, China PR	Myanmar	2–0	Friendly
4	1 June 2004	Beijing, China PR	Hungary	2–1	Friendly
5	10 July 2004	Hohhot, China PR	United Arab Emirates	2–2	Friendly
6	10 July 2004	Hohhot, China PR	United Arab Emirates	2–2	Friendly
7	17 July 2004	Beijing, China PR	Bahrain	2–2	2004 AFC Asian Cup
8	30 July 2004	Beijing, China PR	Iraq	3–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup
9	30 July 2004	Beijing, China PR	Iraq	3–0	2004 AFC Asian Cup
10	22 June 2005	Guangzhou, China PR	Costa Rica	2–0	Friendly
11	7 June 2006	Saint-Étienne, France	France	1–3	Friendly
12	6 February 2008	Al Ahli, Dubai	Iraq	1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

• Shenzhen Jianlibao
  • Chinese Super League: 2004

• Shandong Luneng
  • Chinese Super League: 2006
  • FA Cup: 2006

Country

• China
  • East Asian Football Championship: 2005

Individual

• Chinese Super League Player of the Year: 2002, 2006
• 2004 AFC Asian Cup All-Star Team

See also

• China national football team

References

External links

• Zheng Zhi player profile at celticfc.net
• Zheng Zhi player profile at cafc.co.uk
• Zheng Zhi career stats at Soccerbase

China Squad China Squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Runners Up 1 Liu Yunfei • 3 Sun Xiang • 4 Zhang Yaokun • 5 Zheng Zhi • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Zheng Bin • 9 Hao Haidong • 11 Li Yi • 12 Wei Xin • 13 Xu Yunlong • 14 Li Weifeng (c) • 15 Zhao Junzhe • 16 Ji Mingyi • 18 Li Xiaopeng • 19 Zhang Shuo • 21 Li Ming • 22 Yan Song • 23 Li Jian • 25 Zhou Haibin • 27 Zhou Ting • 29 Li Jinyu • Coach: Haan China PR Squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Li Leilei • 2 Du Wei • 3 Sun Xiang • 4 Zhang Yaokun • 5 Li Weifeng • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Li Tie • 9 Han Peng • 10 Zheng Zhi (c) • 11 Dong Fangzhuo • 12 Zhao Xuri • 13 Zhang Shuai • 14 Zhu Ting • 15 Wang Dong • 16 Ji Mingyi • 18 Zhou Haibin • 19 Zheng Bin • 20 Mao Jianqing • 21 Wang Peng • 22 Yang Jun • 23 Cao Yang • 30 Zong Lei • Coach: Zhu Guanghu China PR Squad – 2008 Summer Olympics 1 Qiu Shengjiong • 2 Tan Wangsong • 3 Feng Xiaoting • 4 Yuan Weiwei • 5 Li Weifeng • 6 Zhou Haibin • 7 Hao Junmin • 8 Zheng Zhi (c) • 9 Gao Lin • 10 Han Peng • 11 Chen Tao • 12 Cui Peng • 13 Shen Longyuan • 14 Wan Houliang • 15 Jiang Ning • 16 Zhao Xuri • 17 Dong Fangzhuo • 18 Liu Zhenli • 19 Dai Lin • 20 Zhu Ting • 21 Lü Jianjun • 22 Zhang Lu • Coach: Yin Tiesheng