Zheng Zhi

Zheng Zhi (Chinese: 郑智; pinyin: Zhèng Zhì; born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League. After starting his career as a defender, Zheng was later moved into a central midfield role by his manager 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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

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

Guangzhou Evergrande

Zheng playing for Guangzhou Evergrande in 2010.

On 28 June 2010, Zheng transferred to China League One side Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer. 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 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. On 26 November 2013, Zheng was named the Asian Footballer of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation, becoming the second Chinese footballer after Fan Zhiyi to win the award.

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. He scored his first international goal on 29 January 2004 in a 1–0 win against Macedonia. 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. 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. 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. On 5 January 2019, Zheng was selected in the final 23-man squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Club statistics

As of 2 October 2019

International statistics

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

Club

Shenzhen Jianlibao

• Chinese Super League: 2004

Shandong Luneng

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

Guangzhou Evergrande

• Chinese Super League: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
• China League One: 2010
• AFC Champions League: 2013, 2015
• Chinese FA Cup: 2012, 2016
• 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