Zheng Zhi

Zheng Zhi (Chinese: 郑智; pinyin: Zhèng Zhì; born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese professional footballer who currently plays for and captains Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande. 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 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 so far 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.

Zheng Zhi
郑智

Personal information
Full name	Zheng Zhi
Date of birth	20 August 1980
Place of birth	Shenyang, Liaoning, China
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Guangzhou Evergrande
Number	10
Youth career
1990–2000	Liaoning Youth
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2000	Liaoning Youth	4	(0)
2001–2004	Shenzhen Jianlibao	82	(13)
2005–2007	Shandong Luneng	45	(31)
2007	→ Charlton Athletic (loan)	12	(1)
2007–2009	Charlton Athletic	55	(8)
2009–2010	Celtic	16	(1)
2010–	Guangzhou Evergrande	215	(15)
National team^‡
2002–	China	108	(15)
Teams managed
2019	Guangzhou Evergrande (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 December 2019

Zheng Zhi
Simplified Chinese	郑智
Traditional Chinese	鄭智
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhèng Zhì IPA [ʈʂə̂ŋ ʈʂɻ̩̂]

Club career

Early career

Zheng Zhi started his football career in 1990 playing for various Liaoning youth academies before playing for Liaoning Youth in 1998 in the China League Two, starting out playing as a defender.[1] 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.[2] 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 for a transfer fee of ¥9.5 million.[3]

Charlton Athletic

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.[4]

Zheng returned to Shandong Luneng 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] On 8 July 2009, Zheng left Charlton after failing to agree a new contract with the club following its relegation to League One.[8]

Celtic

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.[9] Then manager Tony Mowbray affirmed his long held admiration for Zheng and expressed his delight at the signing.[10] 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.[11] He made his debut for the club on 4 October 2009 in a 2–1 loss against Rangers, winning a penalty.[12] He scored his first goal for the club on 8 May 2010 in a 2–1 win against Heart of Midlothian.[13][14] He was released by the club at the end of the 2009–10 season after failing to agree to a new contract.[15]

Guangzhou Evergrande

Zheng playing for Guangzhou Evergrande in 2010.

On 28 June 2010, Zheng joined China League One side Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer.[16][17] He made his debut for the club on 17 July 2010 in a 1–1 draw against Hubei Greenery. 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

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]

Career statistics

Club statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 8 November 2020.' [28]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liaoning Youth	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	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[lower-alpha 1]	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		55	8	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	58	9
Celtic	2009–10	Scottish Premier League	16	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	-		19	1
Guangzhou Evergrande	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[lower-alpha 2]	0	36	2
	2013		24	2	4	0	-		14	1	4[lower-alpha 3]	0	46	3
	2014		20	0	0	0	-		8	0	0[lower-alpha 2]	0	28	0
	2015		22	1	0	0	-		13	1	4[lower-alpha 3]	0	39	2
	2016		26	1	8	0	-		5	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	40	1
	2017		17	0	1	1	-		10	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	29	1
	2018		17	0	0	0	-		4	0	0[lower-alpha 2]	0	21	0
	2019		16	0	1	0	-		8	0	-		25	0
	2020		13	0	0	0	-		0	0	-		13	0
	Total		215	15	19	2	0	0	71	2	10	0	317	19
Career total			431	69	45	10	8	6	77	7	13	2	574	94

1. Appearances in A3 Champions Cup
2. Appearances in Chinese FA Super Cup
3. One appearance in Chinese FA Super Cup, Three appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International statistics

As of 14 November 2019

National team
Year	Apps	Goals
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

International goals

As of 14 November 2014

Scores and results list China's goal tally first.

#	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-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

Honours

Club

Shenzhen Jianlibao[29]

• Chinese Super League: 2004

Shandong Luneng[29]

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

Guangzhou Evergrande[29]

• Chinese Super League: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
• China League One: 2010[30]
• AFC Champions League: 2013, 2015
• Chinese FA Cup: 2012,[31] 2016[32]
• 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

References

1. "郑智简介". sports.QQ.com. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
2. "足协"成人之美"　深圳队350万"买断"郑智". Sina.com. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
3. "一笔划算的买卖--郑智转会鲁能泰山幕后故事". Sina.com. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
4. "Charlton 2–0 Newcastle". BBC. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
5. "Charlton snap up McLeod & Zheng". BBC Sport. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
6. "China's soccer exports face uncertain future". Sina.com English. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
7. "Baggies continue Zheng talks". Sky Sports. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
8. "Midfielder Zheng leaves Charlton". BBC Sport. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
9. "Celtic sign China captain Zheng Zhi". The Herald. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
10. "Zheng Zhi gets green light from SFA". Celtic F.C. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
11. Zheng to miss european campaign. Sporting Life. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
12. "Rangers 2–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 4 October 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
13. Grahame, Ewing (9 May 2010). "Hearts 1 Celtic 2: match report". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
14. "Lennon has no answer for Zheng". SKY Sports. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
15. "Celtic release midfielders Zhi and Mizuno". BBC Sport. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
16. "郑智穿28号战袍 不当只有虚名的英超球员". ESPN Star Sports. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
17. China seeks 'gold' from World Cup. China Daily.com. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
18. "Official Home of Asian Football - Guangzhou win 2013 AFC Champions League". web.archive.org. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
19. AFC Player of the Year: Zheng Zhi Archived 29 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. AFC. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
20. "Chinese Super League: Guangzhou Evegrande's Fabio Cannavaro sent for corporate training as leaders drop points, Zheng Zhi takes over". South China Morning Post. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
21. "Cannavaro returns to Evergrande after handing self-reflection report to investor". Xinhua News Agency. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
22. 公告 (in Chinese). 广州恒大淘宝足球俱乐部. 5 December 2020.
23. "世界杯后首次亮相 四国赛中国首战3-1胜叙利亚". Sohu. 8 December 2002. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
24. "国足1比0险胜马其顿 郑智进球穿越马其顿防线". Sina. 30 January 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
25. Zheng and Dong head China soccer squad for Beijing. Reuters. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
26. http://sports.sina.com.cn/china/national/2016-08-03/doc-ifxuszpp2789598.shtml
27. "5656天郑智终迎迟来的百场 换回的不止是一份荣誉". Sina. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
28. "郑智". sodasoccer (in Chinese).
29. "Zheng, Zhi". National-football-teams.com. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
30. "中甲最新积分榜:恒大稳胜摘联赛桂冠 南京有有降级". sports.sina.com.cn. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
31. "足协杯-张琳芃传射8024两球 恒大总分5-3贵州夺冠". Sports.sina.com.cn. 18 November 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
32. 足协杯-黄博文世界波救主 恒大总分3-3苏宁夺冠 (in Chinese). Sports.sina.com.cn. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2019.

External links

• Zheng Zhi at National-Football-Teams.com
• Zheng Zhi at Soccerway
• Zheng Zhi player profile at celticfc.net
• Zheng Zhi at Soccerbase