Cao Xuan (; born July 2, 1985) is a Chinese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Club career

Cao Xuan originally started his football career with the Dalian Shide F.C. youth team, however in 2000 he would move to

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

so he could join and play for the Zhejiang Lücheng youth team. With them he would graduate to the senior team and start his professional football career at the bottom the Chinese league system, however after several seasons with the club he would see finally promoted to the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

after seeing Zhejiang Lücheng come second in the second tier. He would be a vital member of the team to help establish the club as mid-table regulars for several seasons until the

2009 Chinese Super League The 2009 Chinese Super League season was the sixth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the sixteenth season of a professional football league and the 48th top-tier league season in China. Beijing Guoan won their first eve ...

saw the club struggle within the league, this saw Chinese international Du Wei brought in the following season to strengthen the team's defense and Cao would be dropped as a squad regular. When Du Wei left, Cao would re-establish himself as a vital member of the team's defence. On 5 January 2016, Cao transferred to his hometown club

Dalian Yifang Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sport ...

in the

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

. He was excluded from the team squad in the 2017 season under manager

Juan Ramón López Caro Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. He managed Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Levante UD, Levante in La Liga, as well as RC Celta de Vigo, Celta and ...

. Cao joined fellow League One side

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Cangzhou, Hebei and their home stadium i ...

on 26 January 2018. By the following 2019 league season he would help the team win promotion back into the top tier.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020.''

Honours

Club

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

Player profile
at sodasoccer.com
Player stats
at sohu.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Xuan 1985 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Dalian Zhejiang Professional F.C. players Dalian Professional F.C. players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Men's association football defenders 21st-century Chinese people