Zhang Yaokun (; born 17 April 1981) is a retired

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 ...

footballer.

Club career

Zhang Yaokun started his football career in 1998 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 lat ...

; however, due to an ankle fracture, he struggled to establish himself within the team and it was only once he overcame his long term injury did he start to become a regular. He later became an integral member of the defense and helped Dalian in their dominance within Chinese football by winning league titles in the 2001 season and the 2002 season as well as the

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 ...

in 2001. After Dalian had a disappointing 2004 season,

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 ...

came in as the new manager and would loan out Zhang to

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 ...

during the 2005 season where he quickly established himself as a key member of the club. He returned to Dalian the following season where he continued to be a key member of the squad and would go on to become their captain. On 18 December 2012, Zhang transferred to fellow

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 ...

side

Guangzhou R&F 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 ...

. He made his debut for the club on 9 March 2013 in a 4-2 loss 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 ...

. On 26 February 2017, Zhang transferred to League One side

Wuhan Zall Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall Football Club (), is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in ...

. On 12 November 2018, Zhang Yaokun publicly announced his retirement from professional football right after

successfully promoted to

International career

Zhang was called-up to the Chinese national team 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. ...

where he made several appearances coming on as a substitute and playing in numerous positions in defence. He continued to be a regular for the squad that qualified 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 ...

and he and

Li Weifeng Li Weifeng (; born 1 December 1978) is a Chinese football manager and former international footballer. He is the manager of the Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City FC. Club career Li Weifeng started his football career with Tianjin Loco ...

were the first-choice centre back pairing during the tournament.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International goals

:''Results list China's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

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 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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 ...

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

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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

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 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

International

;

China PR national football team China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Individual

Team of the Year:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

* *
Player profile
at sodasoccer.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Yaokun 1981 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Dalian China international footballers Dalian Shide F.C. players Sichuan Guancheng players Guangzhou City F.C. players Wuhan F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Association football defenders Asian Games competitors for China