Gao Leilei

Gao Leilei (Simplified Chinese: 高雷雷; born July 15, 1980) is a Chinese retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Gao Leilei
高雷雷
Personal information
Full name Gao Leilei
Date of birth (1980-07-15) July 15, 1980
Place of birth Beijing, China
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1996–1997 Beijing Electric Bus
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998 Wuhan 7 (0)
1999–2007 Beijing Guoan 121 (11)
2006–2007 → New Zealand Knights (loan) 7 (1)
2007 MyPa 7 (2)
2008 Wellington Phoenix 8 (0)
2009 Beijing Hongdeng 1 (0)
2009 FC KooTeePee 9 (0)
2010 NSC Minnesota Stars 10 (1)
2010 Beijing Baxy 11 (2)
2016–2019 Cornellà 4 (0)
2019 Jumilla 5 (0)
2019–2020 Ponferradina 0 (0)
2020 Extremadura 1 (0)
Total 183 (17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 July 2020
In this Chinese name, the family name is Gao.

Career

China

Gao began his professional career with top tier club Wuhan in 1998, before moving to fellow top tier club Beijing Guoan in 1999. It was with Beijing Guoan that Gao first gained the public notice of Chinese football community when he scored the equaliser against Liaoning in the final game of the season to deny them the 1999 Jia-A League title. At Guoan he would win the 2003 Chinese FA Cup with the club and score in the quarter-final and semi-finals of the tournament, despite not appearing in the final itself.[1] After spending eight years in total at Guoan, making 121 appearances for the team and scoring 11 goals he would leave the team.

New Zealand and Finland

Towards the end of the 2006 season, Gao expressed his wish to leave the team and seek other options. There were speculations that Gao was going to a team in the Segunda División in Spain, but in December 2006 he was loaned to A-League club New Zealand Knights for a short period. Gao made this debut in the A-League for the Knights on December 3, 2006 against Newcastle Jets, and scored his first A-League goal in his second match against Adelaide United.

Following the dissolution of the Knights franchise, Gao moved to Finland and signed with team MyPa, and in doing so became the first Chinese footballer to play in the Veikkausliiga. Gao made his debut against FC Honka as a substitute on April 22, 2007, and made his first start for against TPS Turku on April 26, 2007.

On March 18, 2008, Gao signed a one-year contract with New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix, rejoining his former manager from the Knights, Ricki Herbert.[2] However, Gao's contract with the New Zealand club was terminated after a reported disagreement with the front office after just 8 games.[3] Gao was linked with a move to A-League club Perth Glory after training with the club, but was not signed.[4]

On July 3, 2009, Gao returned to Beijing and signed a short contract with Beijing Hongdeng[5] but, after just one month with the team, he transferred to Finland again signing with FC KooTeePee. He made his debut for FC KooTeePee on August 16, 2009 against AC Oulu.[6]

United States

On March 22, 2010 Gao landed in his fourth country when signed with NSC Minnesota Stars of the American USSF Division 2 Professional League.[7] He was released by the team on June 29, 2010,[8] having never really settled in Minnesota, and having scored just one goal in ten games for the Stars.

Return to China

Gao returned to Beijing again and joined Beijing Baxy in July 2010. He scored his first goal on the first appearance, in a 3-0 home win against Anhui Jiufang. Gao announced his retirement from professional football due to problems with injuries on 6 March 2011.[9]

Spain

Gao made his return to football in January 2016, signing a half-year contract with Segunda División B side Cornellà.[10] On March 19, 2016, he made his debut for Cornellà in a 2–0 home victory against Espanyol B.[11] He extended his contract with Cornellà for one year in the summer of 2016. In August 2017, he extended his contract again for another year.[12] On 9 January 2019, Gao joined FC Jumilla.[13]

On 20 August 2019, Gao signed a six-month deal with SD Ponferradina in Segunda División, due to a sponsorship deal.[14] The following 12 January, he signed another short-term deal with another team from the second division, Extremadura UD.[15] He was controversially given the number 19 shirt that had been retired since the death of José Antonio Reyes the previous June; this error was rectified by the club.[16]

In July 2020, Gao announced his retirement from professional football.[17]

Honours

Beijing Guoan

References
  1. "北京现代夺冠--2003足协杯最终射手榜(截至10.1)". Sports.sina.com.cn. 2003-03-04. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  2. "Phoenix strengthen midfield with speedy Gao". stuff.co.nz. March 18, 2008. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  3. "Gao Gone In Phoenix Axing". au.fourfourtwo.com. Nov 19, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  4. "Piorkowski Off To Gold Coast Too". au.fourfourtwo.com. Nov 20, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  5. 只为公平高雷雷不踢中超踢中甲 (in Chinese). news.xinmin.cn. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  6. "Ykkösen ottelu". fckooteepee.fi. 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  7. "NSC Minnesota signs four new players". nscminnesota.org. March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  8. "Leilei Gao Released by NSC Minnesota Stars". insidemnsoccer.com. 2010-06-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  9. 高雷雷正式宣布退役 31岁就此结束职业足球生涯 (in Chinese). au.fourfourtwo.com. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  10. 高雷雷复出踢西乙B发布会举行 球队:他符合要求 (in Chinese). sina. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  11. 高雷雷36岁完成西乙联赛首秀 获全场球迷欢呼 (in Chinese). qq. 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  12. 老骥伏枥!高雷雷与西乙B队再续1年 微博晒续约图 (in Chinese). sina. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  13. Leilei Gao, primera incorporación de invierno para el primer equipo, futbolclubjumilla.es
  14. "La SD Ponferradina cierra un nuevo acuerdo de patrocinio e incorpora a Leilei Gao" [SD Ponferradina agree a new sponsorship deal and sign Leilei Gao] (in Spanish). SD Ponferradina. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  15. "Leilei Gao es azulgrana" [Leilei Gao is blue-and-red] (in Spanish). Extremadura UD. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  16. Anduro, Joaquín (13 February 2020). "El Extremadura aclara la polémica con el dorsal de Reyes y el fichaje del chino de 39 años Leilei Gao" [Extremadura clear up the controversy over Reyes' number and the signing of 39-year-old Chinese player Leilei Gao] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  17. Wang Yu. "留洋球员高雷雷宣布退役 足球职业经历堪称传奇". chinanews.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  18. "现代沈阳虎口拔牙 3比0击败实德足协杯三次夺冠". Sports.sina.com.cn. 2003-10-01. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  19. "现代4比3胜申花第二次夺超霸杯 科内塞独中二元". Sports.sina.com.cn. 2004-01-18. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
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