Song Zhenyu (;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Sòng Zhènyú'') (born September 21, 1981) is a

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 ...

former footballer who played as a

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 ...

Club career

Despite being born in

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

Song Zhenyu would move to

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

in the

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

as a boy where he achieved his dream in becoming a professional footballer when he joined top-tier side Sichuan Quanxing in 1999. For the next two seasons he played understudy to

Gao Jianbin Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

and made thirteen league appearances during the periods that Gao Jianbin was injured; however, being unable to permanently claim the first-choice goalkeeping position, Song was loaned out to

Chongqing Lifan Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic () is a defunct Chinese football club. The team was based in Chongqing. The club was founded in 1995 as Wuhan Qianwei before making their debut in the newly developed fully professional Chinese football league system ...

and his hometown football team

Dalian Shide Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...

. After his loan period expired with Dalian Shide the club would decide to make a permanent move for Song where he played understudy to

An Qi An Qi () (born 21 June 1981) is a Chinese former international association football goalkeeper. He represented Guangzhou Matsunichi, Dalian Shide, Dalian Changbo, Xiamen Blue Lions and Changchun Yatai while internationally he participated ...

and made nine league appearances. At the beginning of the 2005 league season Song rejoined his first club Sichuan Quanxing (who had renamed themselves

Sichuan Guancheng Sichuan First City () is a defunct Chinese football club, which was located in Chengdu, Sichuan where they played in the Chengdu Sports Centre. They were founded in 1953 and spent a large part of their history within the top tier of Chinese foo ...

) and immediately became the team's first-choice goalkeeper and helped guide the club to a ninth-place finish at the end of the season; however this wasn't enough for Sichuan in stopping them disbanding the team. In the 2006 league season Song moved to

Shenyang Ginde Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home venu ...

where he rose to prominence by becoming their first choice goalkeeper. The following season would see him continue his establishment within the team despite the club's decision to move to

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

and rename themselves

Changsha Ginde Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional Association football, football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdon ...

. In 2008 Song became his country's first choice goalkeeper, then he tended to his wife while she battled and recovered from a brain tumor while also having to help guide Changsha Ginde away from relegation at the end of the season. By the 2010 league season Song proclaimed his desire to move back to Chengdu with his wife while she gave birth to their child and wanted to join second-tier football team

Chengdu Blades Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. () was a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, China who last played in the 26,000 seater Shuangliu Sports Center in the China League One division. The club was founded on 26 February 1996 and was formerly ...

. He got his wish when he joined Chengdu Blades on the final day of the transfer deadline and played in twenty-four league games in their successful promotion push to the

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 ...

. Chengdu Blades would however struggle in the top tier and after a heavy 4-1 defeat to

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 ...

, Song as well several other first team players would be dropped from the team. Halfway through the league season he joined

Tianjin Teda F.C. Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club is a professional Chinese Association football, 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 t ...

for 1.5 million

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

where he established himself as the first choice goalkeeper and won the

2011 Chinese FA Cup The TOSHIBA 2011 Chinese FA Cup (Chinese language, Chinese: 东芝2011中国足球协会杯) was the 13th edition of Chinese FA Cup. The match of first round began on 4 May 2011, and the final took place on 19 November 2011. Tianjin Teda F.C., Ti ...

in his debut season. On 27 February 2017, Song transferred to

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

side Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic. Song retired after the 2021 season.

International career

Song Zhenyu would be called up to the Chinese senior team in 2007 after recently appointed manager

Vladimir Petrović Vladimir Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Владимир Петровић, ; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon ( sr, Пижон), after the French for ''pigeon''. C ...

decided he was looking for a new goalkeeper. He would fight for the goalkeeping position against

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 Ti ...

and would eventually make his first full international cap for China against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on April 16, 2008 in a 1-0 defeat. Under Petrović's reign Song would become his countries first choice goalkeeper until

Gao Hongbo Gao Hongbo (; born January 25, 1966 in Beijing) is a retired Chinese football striker and head coach of China League One side Beijing Enterprises. He previously managed the China national football team from 2009 to 2011, and in 2016. Appointed ...

became the Chinese new manager and decided to drop Song from the squad.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Player stats
at Sohu.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Zhenyu 1981 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Dalian China international footballers Sichuan Guancheng players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players Dalian Shide F.C. players Changsha Ginde players Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players China League Two players Association football goalkeepers