Sun Jihai (; ; born 30 September 1977) is a Chinese former

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, rugb ...

who played in the English

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 Fo ...

. He is one of the most well-known footballers in China. He was the first

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

footballer to score in the

when he scored a goal for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in October 2002, and also the first Chinese footballer to score in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. Sun was a member of the Chinese national team that qualified for 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 ...

, the country's only appearance at the World Cup. Sun founded Beijing Haiqiu Technology Company (HQ Sports) in Feb of 2016, while he still played for

Beijing Renhe 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 China League One division. Subsequently, in December of the same year, Sun ended his 22 years of professional football career and announced his official retirement in a public event. Also at the same occasion, Sun announced the successful first round funding of his company, led by China Media Capital (CMC), Tencent and Yuan Xun Fund. HQ Sports has now developed to a staff force of more than 100 and with focus on Sports Technology, Media and Datatainment business in China and Worldwide.

Club career

Dalian Shide

Sun Jihai started his football career with

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 late ...

in 1995 and made his first appearance on 28 May 1995 against

Sichuan Quanxing 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 ...

. Like many of the top young Chinese players of his generation, he wanted to go to the Chinese youth training camp in Brazil that was sponsored by

Jianlibao Jianlibao Group（健力宝集团） is a soft drink producer based in Foshan, Guangdong, China which was established in 1984. In 1990s, The Jianlibao drink was one of the best sellers in China, on a par with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. However, poor man ...

. However, he was not selected as he was not deemed to possess enough potential. Sun showed great character by not letting this huge disappointment derail him and worked very hard to establish himself at his club. Sun enjoyed a successful spell with Dalian as the club won four league titles and one

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 title ...

title during his time there.

Crystal Palace

After three successful years at

, Sun along with

Fan Zhiyi Fan Zhiyi (; born 6 November 1969) is a Chinese coach and former international footballer. He played as a defender for Shanghai Shenhua, Crystal Palace, Dundee, Shanghai COSCO Huili, Cardiff City, Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon. He was c ...

signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in August 1998. They became the first ever Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues. Sun made his debut for Crystal Palace in a 3–0 loss against Bury in the first leg of a

1998–99 Football League Cup The 1998–99 Football League Cup (known as the Worthington Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 39th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition began on 11 August 1998, and ...

match. He was recalled by Dalian who struggled heavily at the bottom of the league in the 1999 season.

Manchester City

In February 2002, Sun signed for English side

from

for £2 million and became the first Asian player to sign for the club. He made his debut for the club in a 4–2 win against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

. His solid defence and dangerous attacking forays won over many City fans. He was voted the best player for the club in September 2002. In October 2002, Sun became the first

footballer to score in the

when he headed home the first goal in a 2–0 win over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Sun damaged his cruciate ligaments in a tackle with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

striker Eiður Guðjohnsen and missed the rest of the season. After recuperating and following a strict physical regimen devised by his father, Sun re-installed his place as a regular in the club's starting lineup. In the 2006–07 season, Sun was set back yet again by another injury and he made his return on 10 February 2007, against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

which his side lost 2–1. With the arrival of

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player. After an unassuming playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 ...

as the new manager, Sun rarely played in the 2007–08 season. Sun played 14 games and only started 7 times in that season. He was replaced by

Vedran Ćorluka Vedran Ćorluka (; born 5 February 1986) is a Croatian football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is an assistant to Zlatko Dalić in the Croatia national team. Ćorluka graduated from the Dinamo Zagreb Youth Academy, ...

at right back and

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

played as the defensive substitute instead of Sun.

Sheffield United

On 2 July 2008, Sun signed a two-year deal with

English Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Sun only managed nineteen minutes in his first match for Sheffield United, getting sent off after picking up two yellows in a friendly. He went on to make his full debut in the opening fixture of the 2008–09 season against

. He was sent off during a game against

after a lunging tackle from behind on opposing player

Michael Mifsud Michael Mifsud (born 17 April 1981) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maltese Premier League side Mosta. He scored 42 goals in 143 games for the Malta national team between 2000 and 2020, and also captained the s ...

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

charged him for his behavior after receiving a red card even with his past good disciplinary record and handed him an additional one-match ban. Having played regularly until November he succumbed to an injury and subsequently failed to force his way back into the first team and made only a handful of appearances in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

in the second half of the season. Sun was then released from his contract in July 2009 with Sheffield United claiming he had "failed to settle" in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Return to China

In July 2009, Sun was loaned to

's satellite 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 ...

in 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 ...

, hoping to make an impact. He steadily established himself at Chengdu and helped them to achieve the club's best ever league position at seventh place. However, the club was relegated to

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

in the fallout of a match fixing scandal. He returned to Sheffield United after the loan was finished, but his contract ended and was left without a club to play for. On 8 January 2010, Sun signed a two-year contract with fellow top tier side

Shaanxi 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 ...

. He was promoted as the team captain immediately and he extended his contract for another two years in December 2011. At the beginning of the 2012 season, Sun followed the club when it decided to move to Guizhou and rename themselves

Guizhou Renhe 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 h ...

. He played nineteen league matches and five

matches in the 2012 season as the club achieved fourth place that league season and were runners-up in the cup which gained them entry into

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 in the club's history. On 4 February 2015, Sun moved to fellow top tier side

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 syst ...

on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on 8 March 2014 in a 3–0 loss against

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their hom ...

. On 8 December 2015, Sun returned to second tier side

on a free transfer. On 10 December 2016, Sun announced his retirement from football.

International career

Sun made his international debut for the Chinese national team on 6 December 1996 against

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. At the

in a group stage match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, Sun picked up an ankle injury after a tackle from behind by

Mauricio Solís Mauricio Rodrigo Solís Mora (born 13 December 1972 in Heredia) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is one of Costa Rica's best players in the past decade. He is a tough, hard working ce ...

after just 17 minutes. Unable to play, Sun was replaced after 25 minutes and sat out the rest of the group stage, while Solís was only shown a yellow card. On 7 June 2008, during a

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

match against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, Sun was shown a straight red card for dissent while he was warming up as a substitute on the bench. China lost the match 1–0. He was given a ban of five matches by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and did not receive any call-ups to the national team after this incident.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list China's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Dalian Shide *

Chinese Jia-A League 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 Asso ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

: 2001 *

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a pre-season football competition held before the season begins in China. It is a Chinese football championship contested by the winners of top division of Profession ...

: 1997,

Manchester City *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 2001–02 Guizhou Renhe * Chinese FA Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

* Chinese FA Super Cup:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

Individual

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' ...

Young Player of the Year: 1998 *

Team of the Year:

Most Valuable Player:

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and m ...

Special 2015 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Legends

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Jihai 1977 births Living people Chinese footballers 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players China international footballers Chinese expatriate footballers Footballers from Dalian Crystal Palace F.C. players Dalian Shide F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Association football fullbacks Manchester City F.C. players Premier League players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players Beijing Renhe F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Chinese expatriate sportspeople in England