Zheng Zhi

Early career

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.

Charlton Athletic

Zheng joined Premier League side 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 although he had been on trial with the club in November 2006 under previous manager Les Reed. He made his debut for the club on 10 February 2006 in a 2-0 loss against Manchester United when he was substituted on for Amdy Faye. He scored his first goal on 18 March 2007 in a 2-0 win against Newcastle United.

He 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. In a March 2008 edition of British football magazine FourFourTwo, Zheng was voted the fifth best player in the Football League. He scored a total of seven league goals in the 2007-08 season; however, because of the number of games he played for both Charlton and China, 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 London club following its relegation to League One.

Celtic

On 1 September 2009, Zheng became the second Chinese footballer after Du Wei to sign for Scottish Premier League side Celtic after penning a two-year contract. Then manager Tony Mowbray affirmed his long held admiration for the player and expressed his delight in the signing. Zheng was unable to play in Celtic's Europa League group matches after UEFA confirmed that he was not registered in time.

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 which was scored by Aiden McGeady in a 2-1 win against Rangers. Zheng was substituted for Paddy McCourt after 70 minutes. Zheng scored his first goal for the club on 8 May 2010 against Heart of Midlothian. He scored the second goal in a 2-1 win with a quick turn and hooked shot from 18 yards out into the top corner of the goal. He was released by Celtic after failing to agree contract terms at the end of the 2009-10 season.

Guangzhou Evergrande

On 28 June 2010, Zheng returned home and signed for 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 league title for the first time in the club's history, giving Zheng his third league title with three different 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 they 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 for his impressive performances for both club and country.

International career

Zheng joined the Chinese under-23 national team as the only player from the third tier Chinese Yi League. Under then manager Bobby Houghton for the Chinese national team, he mainly played right back in many matches. After Zhu Guanghu took over as the manager, 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 became the 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.

International goals

Club statistics

¹Other tournaments include A3 Champions Cup.
²Other tournaments include Chinese FA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Club

Shenzhen Jianlibao

Shandong Luneng

Guangzhou Evergrande

Individual