Zheng Zhi
 |
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| 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) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Guangzhou Evergrande | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–2000 | Liaoning Youth | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2004 | Shenzhen Jianlibao | 77 | (14) |
| 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 | 152 | (15) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002– | China | 94 | (15) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 November 2016. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 November 2016.
Zheng Zhi (simplified Chinese: 郑智; traditional Chinese: 鄭智; pinyin: Zhèng Zhì, born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League. He is also the current captain of the Chinese national team.
Starting his career as a defender, Zheng was moved into centre midfield by his manager at Shenzhen Jianlibao and experienced immediate success there by winning the 2004 league title with them. 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.
Zheng Zhi started his football career in 1990 playing for various Liaoning youth academies before playing for Liaoning Youth in 1998 where he started out playing as a defender. Despite being the reserve side of Liaoning Whowin, the Liaoning Youth team were allowed to take part in the third tier where they found it difficult within the league system and the club were involved in legal trouble that saw all their assets frozen, including player transfer rights. This saw Zheng spend a year without playing professional football and he was transferred 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. While he was initially deployed as a defender at first, he successfully made the transition as a playmaker and aided Shenzhen to the 2004 league title for the first time in the club's history. After the title win, Zheng would play for the Chinese national team at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup where then manager Arie Haan deployed him as a defender once again as China finished as runners-up in the tournament.
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