Yu Tao (; born October 15, 1981 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

) 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 ...

international football player as a

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 ...

Club career

Yu Tao began his football career playing for

Shanghai 02 Shanghai 02 F.C. is a defunct Chinese football club based in Shanghai, China. History The club was founded by Xu Genbao in 1995 and was aimed at developing football talents for the participation of the 2002 World Cup, from which the club was na ...

before the club was taken over by

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 ...

and he was promoted to their senior side at the beginning of the 2002 league season, where he made twenty four league games and would score four goals. By the following season, he would become an integral member of the Shenhua team due to his ability to play in numerous positions in the midfield and would help them to win the league 2003 league title. Unfortunately in 2013 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 ...

would revoke the league title after it was discovered the Shenhua General manager Lou Shifang had bribed officials to be bias to Shenhua in games that season. Despite several changes in management and the influx of players from the

Shanghai United Shanghai United F.C (Simplified Chinese: 上海联城足球俱乐部) was a Chinese professional Association football, football club based in Shanghai, who last played in the 16,000 seater Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium in the Chinese Super Leagu ...

merger, Yu Tao has been a constant regular for Shanghai Shenhua throughout his career. By the 2010 league season his loyalty towards Shanghai would be rewarded when he was named the club's captain and on May 8, 2010 in a league game against

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

, he would become the club's most capped player when he made his one hundred and eighty sixth league appearance for the club. This was soon followed by him also reaching 200 league appearances for the club on August 29, 2010 in a league game against

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 ...

, which ended in a 1-1 draw. On 20 December 2012, Yu moved to

Shanghai Shenxin Shanghai Shenxin Football Club () was a professional football club that participated in China's football league system between 2003 and 2019 under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Jinshan District, Shangha ...

on a free transfer, he signed a three-year-deal with Shenxin. On 23 December 2015, Yu transferred 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 ...

side

Beijing Enterprises Group Beijing Sport University Football Club (), commonly known as BSU (), is a Chinese professional football club that currently participates in the China League One division under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is base ...

on a free transfer.

International career

Yu Tao would be called up into the Chinese managers

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 ...

's first game against

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in a friendly on 7 December 2002 in a 3-1 win. After that game, he would become an irregular member for the national team, but this would not be enough to make the squad for 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. ...

. After several years in the international wilderness, the next Chinese 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 ...

would call him up for a friendly against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

on February 7, 2007 in a 2-1 victory. In preparation for 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 ...

, Zhu Guanghu included Yu Tao in several further squads but decided not in include him for the final tournament. The introduction of

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 ...

as the Chinese manager that saw Yu Tao given his chance of a competitive tournament when he was called him up for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

Honours

Shanghai Shenhua *

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 Associ ...

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 ...

(revoked due to match-fixing scandal)

References

External links

Player Profile
at Shanghai Shenhua website
Player Profile
at Football-lineups website

at Sodasoccer.com * *
Player stats
at Sohu.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Tao 1981 births Living people Association football midfielders Chinese footballers Footballers from Shanghai China international footballers Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Shanghai Shenxin F.C. players Beijing Sport University F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for China