Gu Guangming (; born January 31, 1959 in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

) is a former Chinese professional

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 ...

player and manager. Nicknamed "The

Weatherfish Misgurnus is a genus of true loaches found in Europe and Asia. The origin of the name ''Misgurnus'' comes from the Greek word (to hate) and the Turkish (loud), a name given to them due to their habit of becoming very active during barometric ...

" because of his ability to dribble out of tight spaces on the flanks and in the corners while avoiding tackles, Gu played for the Guangdong provincial team in the semi-professional

Chinese Jia League 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 ...

from 1976 to 1985 and became the second Chinese player to play in a European professional league when he played for

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

in the German 2. Bundesliga from 1987 to 1992. On the international level, he played for the China national team from 1979 to 1985, participating in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifications.

Playing career

Gu was considered a highly talented young player and joined top tier

side Guangdong provincial team by the 1976 league season. He soon went on to play for the Chinese National Junior Team before Gu went on to see his club win the Chinese league title at the end of the 1979 league season before being called up to the Chinese national team for the first time. With the national team he went on to be in the squads that took part in the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and

1984 AFC Asian Cup The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the 8th 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 Singapore between 1 December and 16 December 198 ...

third placed team, while also participating in the

and the

qualifications. In 1985, Gu suffered a broken right

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

injury in a domestic match against the Beijing football team, and was forced out of all competitions for almost two years. In 1987, he made a comeback in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and played for five seasons with

in the 2. Bundesliga from 1987 to 1993, becoming the first footballer from the

People's Republic of 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 ...

to play in a European professional league.

Honours

Club

;

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League (simplified Chinese, commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Associ ...

: 1979

Individual

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Best XI: 1980–1983 * AFC All-Star Team: 1985 * Voted "Favorite Football Player in China" by fans: 1986

References

External links

Player profile
at Sodasoccer {{DEFAULTSORT:Gu, Guangming 1959 births Living people People from Shaoguan Chinese football managers Chinese footballers Footballers from Shaoguan China international footballers tuS Koblenz players SV Darmstadt 98 players 2. Bundesliga players Chinese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Germany 1980 AFC Asian Cup players 1984 AFC Asian Cup players Association football wingers