Li Weifeng

Li Weifeng
李玮峰

Personal information
Full name	Li Weifeng
Date of birth	(1978-12-01) 1 December 1978 (age 35)
Place of birth	Changchun, Jilin, China
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current team	Tianjin Teda
Number	5
Youth career
1990–1995	Tianjin Locomotive
1996–1998	Shenzhen Youth
1998	Tianjin Locomotive
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Shenzhen Ping'an	92	(4)
2002–2003	Everton	1	(0)
2003–2005	Shenzhen Jianlibao	59	(4)
2006–2008	Shanghai Shenhua	49	(8)
2008	Wuhan Guanggu	2	(0)
2009–2010	Suwon Bluewings	48	(2)
2011–	Tianjin Teda	89	(2)
National team‡
1998–2011	China	112	(14)
Honours[show] Men's football Competitor for China Asian Games Bronze 1998 Bangkok Football
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 May 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 May 2014

Li Weifeng (simplified Chinese: 李玮峰; traditional Chinese: 李瑋峰; pinyin: Lǐ Wěifēng; born 1 December 1978 in Changchun, Jilin) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League.

Club career

Li Weifeng previously played for Shenzhen Ping'an and had a short trial at Premier League side Everton immediately after the 2002 FIFA World Cup as part of an Everton deal with Chinese sponsor Kejian. During his time at Everton he only made two appearances, playing once in the league against Southampton and once in the league cup against Wrexham. ^{[1] [2]} Li was unable to make an impact at the club and returned to Shenzhen Jianlibao after the 2002-03 season.^[3]

In the beginning of the 2006 season, Li Weifeng left Shenzhen Jianlibao due to the club's financial difficulties and followed many of his teammates out of the club. Shanghai Shenhua bought him for 6 million yuan despite reported interest from Serie A side Fiorentina. In 2008, Li transferred from Shanghai Shenhua to Wuhan Guanggu due to a lack of playing time for the league runners-up, reuniting him with former manager Zhu Guanghu who also coached him in the Chinese national team as well as in Shenzhen Ping'an. Soon after the transfer, however Li was involved in an on-the-field incident which resulted in him being suspended for eight games by the Chinese Football Association. Already on the verge of relegation, Wuhan Guanggu amounted protests against this ruling which the club deemed to be unjust and extremely damaging to its chance to survive in the top flight. After its efforts were proven to be futile, Wuhan Guanggu withdrew from the league and was disbanded and Li did not appear in any games for the rest of the season.

Because of Wuhan Guanggu's withdrawal, most of its non-local and highly paid players were put on the transfer list at the end of the season with Li among one of them. Because of his reputation, high wage demand, gigantic transfer fee, and the unserved eight game suspension, Li was a hard commodity to move despite being perceived as heads and shoulders above the rest of the Chinese defenders. But the new AFC Champions League rule came to his rescue as it allowed all tournament participants to have one foreign Asian player. Attracting heavy interests from both the Japanese and Korean league, Li moved to Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K-League in January 2009, signing a two-year contract for a reported $400,000 and reuniting him with another one of his former managers. Some pundits suggested that Li moved on a free transfer because Wuhan Guanggu's withdrawal made all of its players free agents under FIFA's rules. However, Wuhan Guanggu immediately released statements announcing its intention to obstruct the move if it was not at least partly remunerated and media reports stated that Li would pay his former club himself in order to play for the Korean outfit.^[4][5] Li was sent off in his first game for his new club against Sparta Prague in a friendly match in Hong Kong^[6] However, Li redeemed himself in his first official match for Suwon in an AFC Champions League match against Kashima Antlers by scoring the opening goal which they won 4-1.

Li returned to China before the 2011 season and signed a contract with Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda on 18 January 2011.^[7] He remained a major defender and leader on the pitch for Tianjin Teda and captained the team during the years he played for them.

International career

Li made his first appearance for the Chinese national team on 22 November 1998 in a friendly match against South Korea.^[8] Li was promoted to team captain by then manager Arie Haan in 2003. In September 2006, he was banned from the Chinese national team for attacking an opposing player and hence earning his sixth red card in fourteen months during an AFC Champions League game with Shanghai Shenhua. His position as captain of the national team was stripped and later assigned to Zheng Zhi.

International goals

Results list China's goal tally first.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Shenzhen Jianlibao

• Chinese Super League: 2004

Shanghai Shenhua

• A3 Champions Cup: 2007

Suwon Bluewings

• Korean FA Cup: 2009

Tianjin Teda

• Chinese FA Cup: 2011

International

China PR national football team

• East Asian Football Championship: 2005

Individual

• Chinese Super League Team of the Year: 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004

References

External links

• K-League Player Record (Korean)
• Profile FIFA Player Statistics
• Li Weifeng at National-Football-Teams.com