Gai Zengchen (; born 6 April 1955) is a Chinese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and a former international who played for

Liaoning FC Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

as well as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the

1980 Asian Cup The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was the 7th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were hosted by Kuwait between 15 and 30 September 1980. The fie ...

Playing career

Gai Zengchen was born in

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

where he showed great tactical awareness, and was soon snapped up by

. He joined their senior team in the 1974 Chinese league season. His abilities soon saw him called up to the Chinese U-20 team where he played in the

1975 AFC Youth Championship The 1975 AFC Youth Championship was held in Kuwait. Teams The following teams entered the tournament: * * * * * * * * * * * * * (host) * * * * * * Note: Sri Lanka withdrew before the draw. Group stage Group A Group B ...

and helped guide China to a quarter-finals finish. Back with Liaoning he became a regular within their team as they went on to win the 1978 Chinese league title. During this period Gai received a call-up to the senior national team and was included in the squad that went to the

. After spending several more years with Liaoning he decided to retire in 1984 where he went back to his studies finishing University. Gai returned to football in 1986 when he went back to Liaoning as a coach, which eventually saw become their youth coach from 1989 to 1993. This was followed by a stint at a Chinese high school from 1993 to 1997 as well as short period with the Chinese U-20 team. In 1998, he returned to Liaoning before having a stint with

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

in 1999, Dalian Shide F.C. in 2000. From 2002 to 2004 he sided with Shenyang Jinde.

Personal life

Gai Zengchen has three older brothers Gai Zengsheng, Gai Zengxian, Gai Zengjun. All four brothers used to be professional football players, and are considered one of the most famous brothers in Chinese football history.

Career statistics

International statistics

Honours

Player

Liaoning FC *Chinese Jia-A League: 1978

References

External links

Team China Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gai, Zengchen 1955 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Dalian China men's international footballers 1980 AFC Asian Cup players Liaoning F.C. players Chinese football managers Men's association football forwards