Zhang Lu (; ; born August 23, 1987) is a Chinese

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, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right winger 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 ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

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 ...

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 ...

Club career

Zhang Lu would start his professional football career with

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye 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 ...

in the 2006 league season and was part of the squad that won the division title and promotion to the top tier. He would make his first

appearance on 29 April 2007 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 ...

in a 2-1 victory. During the season he would become a squad regular within the team and go on to score his first goal on 15 September 2007 in this time a 3-1 defeat to Dalian Shide. In the following seasons he would establish himself as a vital member within the squad and helped guide the club to their first ever qualification in the

Asian 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 ...

. Within the

2010 AFC Champions League The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

he would play in all six games and scored one goal against

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

on 10 March 2010 in a 1-1 draw as Henan were knocked out in the group stages. Unfortunately the club were unable to repeat their achievements in reaching the continental competition and instead soon found themselves relegated at the end of the 2012 league season. Zhang would remain with the club and was part the team that immediately helped win the division title and promotion back into the top tier the following season. On 30 December 2014, Zhang transferred to Chinese Super League side

. The Head coach at Shenhua,

Francis Gillot Francis Gillot (; born 9 February 1960) is a football manager and former player who most recently managed Ligue 2 team AJ Auxerre. As a player, he was a defender and predominantly associated with his time at Valenciennes and Lens while having ...

would convert Zhang to a from a right winger to a right-back at the beginning of the season and he would play his first game in this position on 8 March 2015 in a league game against

Shanghai Shenxin F.C. 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 ...

that ended in a 6-2 victory. The move in position would see Zhang establish himself as a regular within the team and a call-up to the Chinese national team for the first time.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020''.

International goals

Henan Jianye

Honours

Club

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 ...

: 2006,

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 fact ...

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

*
Player profile
at sodasoccer.com
Player stats
at sohu.com 1987 births Living people People from Xinxiang Chinese footballers Footballers from Henan Henan Songshan Longmen F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Association football midfielders {{PRChina-footy-bio-stub