Li Weifeng (; born 1 December 1978) is a Chinese football manager and former international footballer. He is the manager of the Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City FC.
Club career
Li Weifeng started his football career with
Tianjin Locomotive's youth academy before he was spotted by the Chinese national youth program to study football abroad in a training program sponsored by
Jianlibao. This then saw him called up to the
Chinese under-20 national team and given a chance to play in the
1997 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 in Malaysia. It was th ...
. Upon his return from the tournament Li was returned to his initial youth team of Tianjin Locomotive until top tier club
Shenzhen Ping'an showed an interest in him, not wanting to lose a promising young player a contract dispute would arise until a fee of 800,000 yuan was reportedly agree upon. In the
1998 league season he made his debut for the club and quickly established himself at the heart of the team's defense, guiding them to a 12th-place finish and doing enough to avoid relegation.
In the following seasons with Shenzhen, Li establish himself as an integral member of the team and would go on to represent his country in the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
. With the exposure of the tournament, a short trial at
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
side
Everton immediately followed as part of an Everton deal with Chinese sponsor
Kejian
Shenzhen Kejian Group Co., Ltd. (), better known as Kejian (), was a Chinese telecommunications company.
During the 2002–03 FA Premier League season, the company sponsored Everton F.C.
Kejian was responsible for the club's signing of Chines ...
. His time at Everton he only made two appearances, playing once in the league against
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and once in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
against
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
. He was unable to make an impact at the club and returned to Shenzhen after the
2002-03 season.
In the
2003 league season, Li returned from his loan spell at Everton and was immediately incorporated back into the team. He was soon made club captain by then manager
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 within his second spell at the club he would lead them to the
2004 Chinese Super League
The 2004 Chinese Super League is the debut season of the establishment of the Chinese Football Association Super League (中国足球协会超级联赛 or 中超), also known as the Chinese Super League. Sponsored by Siemens Mobile it is the eleve ...
title for the first time in the club's history. After that success, Zhu Guanghu was offered the
Chinese Head coach position and
Chi Shangbin
Chi Shangbin (; 19 September 1949 – 6 March 2021) was a Chinese football player and coach.
As player, he spent his whole career playing for Liaoning, and also represented China at international level. As manager, he was best known for his re ...
came in as his replacement. Unfortunately for Chi, results significantly deteriorated under his reign and Li along with several other members of the team in
Li Yi and
Yang Chen publicly criticized his management which resulted in his resignation.
In the beginning of the 2006 season, Li left Shenzhen due to the club's financial difficulties and followed many of his teammates out of the club.
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
bought him for 6 million yuan despite reported interest from
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
side
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...
. In 2008, Li transferred from Shanghai to
Wuhan Guanggu due to a lack of playing time for the league runners-up, reuniting him with his former manager Zhu Guanghu who also coached him in the
Chinese national team as well as in Shenzhen. Soon after the transfer, Li was involved in an on-the-field scuffle with
Lu Jiang which resulted in him being suspended for eight games by the
Chinese Football Association
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country's ...
. Already on the verge of relegation, Wuhan amounted protests against this ruling which the club deemed to be unjust and extremely damaging to its chance to survive in the top flight. After its efforts were proven to be futile, Wuhan withdrew from the league and was disbanded and Li did not appear in any games for the rest of the season.
Because of Wuhan's withdrawal, most of its non-local and highly paid players were put on the transfer list at the end of the season, with Li among them. Because of his reputation, high wage demands, gigantic transfer fee, and the unserved eight-game suspension, Li was a hard commodity to move despite being perceived as heads and shoulders above the rest of the Chinese defenders. But the new
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
rule came to his rescue as it allowed all tournament participants to have one foreign Asian player. Attracting heavy interest from both the Japanese and Korean leagues, Li moved to
K-League
K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2.
History
Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...
side
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor''
, short name = SSB
, image =
, caption =
, founded =
, ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium
, capacity = 44,031
, owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary)
, chairma ...
in January 2009, signing a two-year contract for a reported $400,000 and reuniting him with another one of his former managers. Some pundits suggested that Li moved on a free transfer because Wuhan's withdrawal made all of its players free agents under FIFA's rules. However, Wuhan immediately released statements announcing its intention to obstruct the move if it was not at least partly remunerated and media reports stated that Li would pay his former club himself in order to play for the Korean outfit. In his debut appearance, he was sent off against
Sparta Prague
) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští''
, ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena
, capacity = 19,416
, clubname = Sparta Prague
, image = Sparta Praha logo.png
, image_size = 160px
, fu ...
in a friendly match in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
; however, Li redeemed himself in his first official match for Suwon in an AFC Champions League match in a 4-1 win against
Kashima Antlers
are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
by scoring the opening goal.
On 18 January 2011, Li signed 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
Tianjin Teda
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger 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 Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...
and was named as the club captain. On 20 July 2015, Li was released by the club midway through the 2015 season.
Li was appointed as the vice managing director of
Tianjin Quanjian in September 2015.
International career
Li made his first appearance for the
Chinese national team on 22 November 1998 in a friendly match against
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, which ended in a 0-0 draw. His performances for the national team would see him called up to China's squads for the
2000 AFC Asian Cup
The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 O ...
and
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
. In 2003, he was promoted to team captain by then manager
Arie Haan
Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...
and would lead China to a runners-up position at the
2004 AFC Asian Cup
The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...
. In September 2006, he was banned from the national team for attacking an opposing player and hence earning his sixth red card in fourteen months during an
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
game with
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
. His position as captain of the national team was stripped and later assigned to
Zheng Zhi
Zheng Zhi (; born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese professional footballer and manager who played most of his career for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou F.C., becoming their captain and serving also as their caretaker manager in two stints. A ...
. The ban was removed after a year, but since then he never had any significant role in the national team anymore. He returned as Captain during the
2014 World Cup qualifying, but his return could not help China pass through the Third Round, after two shocking losses to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.
Playstyle
He has strength in a strong fighting spirit and an interpersonal mark. And the timing of the jump and heading is really good, so the ability to take control of the airborne ball is excellent.
Career statistics
Club statistics
International goals
:''Results list China's goal tally first.''
Honours
Club
Shenzhen Ping'an
*
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 ...
:
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 ...
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
*
A3 Champions Cup
A3 Champions Cup (also known as East Asian Champions Cup) was an annual football (soccer) tournament jointly organized by the China PR, Japan and Korea Republic football Association. It began in 2003, involving the league champions of China, Japan ...
:
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
Suwon Bluewings
''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor''
, short name = SSB
, image =
, caption =
, founded =
, ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium
, capacity = 44,031
, owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary)
, chairman ...
*
Korean FA Cup
The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...
:
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
Tianjin Teda
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger 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 Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...
*
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 ...
:
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
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 ...
Individual
*
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 ...
Team of the Year:
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
,
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 ...
See also
*
List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official match appearance for their national team. In total, over 600 players have played in 100 or more international matches. The re ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Weifeng
1978 births
Living people
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2000 AFC Asian Cup players
2004 AFC Asian Cup players
2007 AFC Asian Cup players
China international footballers
Chinese expatriate footballers
Chinese expatriate sportspeople in South Korea
Everton F.C. players
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in South Korea
Chinese footballers
Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Chinese Super League players
K League 1 players
Olympic footballers of China
Footballers from Changchun
Premier League players
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players
Shenzhen F.C. players
Suwon Samsung Bluewings players
Wuhan Guanggu players
FIFA Century Club
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players
Asian Games medalists in football
Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games
Asian Games bronze medalists for China
Association football defenders
Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games