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 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. ...

; however, at the height of his career he was disciplined by his club for his

recreational drug use Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...

before being arrested for possessing illegal drugs, which saw him retire in 2007 at the age of only 27. On April 15, 2021, Liu decided to return to the field at age of 42.

Biography

Liu started his career playing for the Tianjin Teda youth team and was soon called up to the Chinese U-23 team, where he competed with his Tianjin teammate

Zong Lei Zong Lei (; born July 26, 1981) is a former Chinese football player. Club career Zong Lei started his football career playing for the Tianjin Teda F.C. youth team before breaking into the senior team during the 2001 league season. While at Tia ...

for the first-choice goalkeeping spot. After returning from national duty, his development soon saw him replace Jiang Jin as the club's first-choice goalkeeper within the

2001 Chinese Jia-A League The 2001 Chinese Jia-A League season is the eighth season of professional association football and the 40th top-tier overall league season in China. The league started on March 11 and ended on December 16, 2001 with Dalian Shide retaining the cham ...

season after he made 19 league appearances for the club. His breakout season saw him personally win the

Jia A 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 ...

goalkeeper of the year award in 2001, while Jiang Jin decided to move to

Shanghai Zhongyuan 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 2002. Liu was soon called up to Chinese senior team on February 15, 2002 by the Chinese Head coach Bora Milutinović in a friendly against Slovenia in a 0-0 draw. While he missed out on 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 ...

, Liu soon went on to establish himself as his country's first-choice goalkeeper once Arie Haan became manager for China, and once the

came around, Liu became the hero in the semi-final penalty shootout against Iran as China won 4-3 on penalties. Liu transferred to top tier side Shanghai Shenhua in 2006, where his teammate in the national team Yu Weiliang was a starter goalkeeper. He started a few games, but was suspended later for discipline problems thought to be brought about by his recreational drug use. After he stopped training Liu soon became a free agent after the contract with Shanghai Shenhua was terminated. In March 2007, Liu was arrested for possessing illegal drugs, so he retired at only age 27.Police confirm ex-China goalie detained for drug use
at chinaview.cn 2007-03-27

References

External links

Player profile
at Sina {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yunfei 1979 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Tianjin China international footballers 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Chinese Super League players Association football goalkeepers