Li Leilei (; born June 30, 1977 in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) is a former

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and current goalkeeping coach of

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan 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 the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

Club career

Li Leilei started his career with second tier club

Bayi Football Team The Bayi or August First Football Team () or its full name the People's Liberation Army Bayi Football Club () was a football team under the sport branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that played in China's football league system between 1 ...

in the 1999 Chinese league season and would go on to become their first choice goalkeeper. With them he would gain promotion at the end of 2000, however after three seasons in the top tier the club were relegated at the end of the 2003 league season and disbanded due to financial difficulties brought about by professional football. This saw Li Leilei join another top tier club in

Shenzhen Jianlibao Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of ...

where he was immediately made the club's first choice goalkeeper by the team's Head coach

Zhu Guanghu Zhu Guanghu (; born September 25, 1949 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese football coach and a former player. As a player, he was predominantly remembered for his time at Shanghai Football Team before going into management where he started off ...

and had an extremely successful debut season with them by winning the 2004

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 ...

. The following season wasn't to prove as successful for Li Leilei, however he still drew the interests from

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan 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 Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

who he transferred to for 5 million yuan at the beginning of the 2006 league season. At Shandong he was the first choice goalkeeper of the league and cup 2006 double winning campaign. By now Li Leilei had also established himself 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 ...

's main goalkeeper and by the 2008 league season he would continue his pivotal role for the club by again winning the Chinese Super League title. By the end of the 2009 league season the Shandong Head coach

Ljubiša Tumbaković Ljubiša Tumbaković (, ; born 2 September 1952) is a Serbian professional football manager. He is the most successful coach in the history of Serbian powerhouse Partizan which he led to six national championship titles and three national cup wi ...

had left the club after a disappointing season and was replaced by

Branko Ivanković Branko Ivanković (; born 28 February 1954) is a Croatian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Oman national team. After a 12-year playing career at Varteks, Ivanković started his coaching career at the ...

who decided to promote the youngster

Yang Cheng Yang Cheng, may refer to: * Yang Cheng (born 1985), a Chinese football goalkeeper who currently plays for Hebei China Fortune in the Chinese Super League. * Yang Cheng (born 1964), is a lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) ...

as first choice goalkeeper, which saw Li Leilei limited to a single appearance throughout the 2010 campaigned as he watched Shandong win another league title. At the end of the 2011 league season he did not make a single appearance for Shandong and with his contract having finished Li Leilei retired from football.

International career

Li Leilei was given the chance to make his senior debut on May 29, 2005 against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

by the recently appointed Chinese Head coach Zhu Guanghu in a match China lost 1-0. During this period he was playing understudy to

Liu Yunfei Liu Yunfei (; born 8 May 1979) is a Chinese international football goalkeeper who currently plays for Shaanxi Warriors Beyond. Internationally he played within the 2004 AFC Asian Cup; however, at the height of his career he was disciplined by ...

until the sudden retirement of Liu Yunfei in 2006 established Li Leilei as first choice goalkeeper in the run up to the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

. Within the tournament Li Leilei would play the first two group games before injury ruled him out for the final group game.

Coaching career

Li became the goalkeeping coach of his hometown club

in December 2012.

Personal life

Li Leilei's father, Li Songhai (李松海), was also a football goalkeeper.

Honours

Club

;

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

;

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh titl ...

International

China PR national football team 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 ...

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

*
Player stats
at football-lineups website {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Leilei 1977 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Chinese footballers Bayi Football Team players China international footballers Footballers from Beijing Shandong Taishan F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Chinese Super League players Association football goalkeeping coaches Beijing Guoan F.C. non-playing staff