Li Ming (; born 21 January 2000), 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 ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Guangzhou City 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 Kong ...

Club career

Born in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, Li started playing football as a child, joining his primary school football team at the age of ten, the same year he joined Qingdao Luyin. In 2011, his performances at the Mayor's Cup drew the attention of football fans throughout China, where he was described as " Maradonna-possessed" by a commentator, as well as earning the nickname "Qingdao little

Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...

", for his immense performances, scoring numerous goals and being noted for his dribbling ability. He was also recruited into the

team in the same year. He once again garnered national attention the following year, this time for his performances at a primary school championship final, where he scored four goals and recorded one assist in a 5–2 victory. In 2013, Li was selected for the

Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning and headquartered in Beijing. It is a private property developer and owner of Wanda Cinemas and the Hoyts Group. With inve ...

's "China's Future Football Star" initiative, to encourage the development of young Chinese players. He joined the academy of

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, progressing through the youth ranks and representing the club at under-17 level. However, despite a promising start in Madrid, he was loaned to

RSD Alcalá Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá is a Spanish football team based in Alcalá de Henares in the Community of Madrid. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 7, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal del Val'', with a capac ...

for the 2017–18 season, making eleven appearances for the under-19s. He returned to China at the beginning of 2019, signing with

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 ...

side

International career

At the age of thirteen, Geng received call-ups to both the under-14 and under-15 national teams. He was called up to the Chinese under-16 team in 2015.

Personal life

Li is of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

ethnicity.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ming 2000 births Living people Footballers from Qingdao Footballers from Shandong Chinese footballers of Korean descent Chinese men's footballers China men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders China League Two players Qingdao F.C. players Qingdao Hainiu F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers RSD Alcalá players Guangzhou City F.C. players Chinese expatriate men's footballers Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain