Li Yan (Chinese:李彦) (born June 20, 1980) is a former Chinese international

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 ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who spent the majority of his career playing for Shanghai Pudong where he won the second tier division title and a runners-up position in the 2003 Chinese Jia-A League season. He also played for

New Zealand Knights FC New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

and

Hangzhou Greentown Zhejiang Professional Football Club (), commonly referred to as Zhejiang FC or simply Zhejiang, is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (C ...

before retiring due to injury.

Club career

While Li Yan started his football career at second tier side Shanghai HSBC, it was his move to Shanghai Pudong that saw his football career flourish when he would go on to establish himself as an integral member within the team that would go on to win the second division title and receive promotion to the top tier. He would go on to help establish the team in the top flight and remained with the club when they moved to

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

and renamed itself Xi'an Chanba International. During this period Li Yan established himself as useful attacking midfielder and caught the eye of

in 2006, however his move was to prove an unsuccessful one and he only played in two league games. Li Yan would return to Xian Chanba International which had renamed itself

Shaanxi Baorong Chanba Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their hom ...

in the 2007 season and stayed with them until the end of the 2009 league season when he transferred to

in 2010. His move to Hangzhou would see him become an immediate regular within the team and he helped guide the club to their best ever finish of fourth within the league as well qualification for the

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 ...

for the first time. Li would, however sustain an ankle injury at the beginning of the 2011 league season and tried to play on until April 19, 2011 in a

2011 AFC Champions League The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title. The winners, Al-Sadd qualified for ...

group game against

Al Ain S.C.C. Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional Football team, football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi (emir ...

saw him unable to carry on, which would see him retire soon afterwards.

International career

Li Yan would make his debut in a friendly 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 ...

March 29, 2005 in a 1–0 defeat. He would go on to establish himself as a squad regular within the team and score his first goal against

Korea DPR North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

in a 2–0 win. Li Yan, however did not make it into the squad that went 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 ...

and after the tournament saw very little international playing time.

Honours

Club

Shanghai Pudong *Chinese Jia-B League: 2001

International

China national football team The China national football team (, recognised as China PR by FIFA) represents the People's Republic of China in international association football and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. China won the EAFF East Asian Cup in 2005 ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Yan 1980 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Shanghai China international footballers Beijing Renhe F.C. players A-League Men players New Zealand Knights FC players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Chinese expatriate footballers Zhejiang Professional F.C. players Chinese Super League players Association football midfielders