Zou Zheng (; ; born 7 February 1988) 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 ...

footballer who currently plays for

Chinese 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

Sichuan Jiuniu Sichuan Jiuniu Football Club (Simplified Chinese: 四川九牛足球俱乐部) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The te ...

Club career

Zou Zheng started his football career playing for

Qingdao Jonoon Qingdao Hainiu Football Club (, known as Hai-niu or literally Sea Bull) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is b ...

's youth academy in 2001. He moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

with his parents between 2002 and 2005. He returned to Qingdao Jonoon and was promoted to the first team during the 2007 season. He made his debut for the club on 4 November 2007 in a 2–2 draw against

Shenzhen Xiangxue Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of ...

. The following season saw him gain significant playing time as a substitute, which also led to him scoring his first goal for the club on 15 September 2008 in a 2–1 win 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 ...

. His progression would continue the following season due to his versatility which saw him become a regular for the club. On 24 December 2014, Zou transferred to

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 Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

. He made his debut for the club on 9 March 2015 in a 2–1 win against

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright Cangzhou Mighty Lions 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 Cangzhou, Hebei and their home stadium i ...

. Zou scored his first goal for the club on 20 June 2015 in a 2–1 win against

Shandong Luneng Taishan Shandong Taishan 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 Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is ...

; however, he was also sent off during stoppage time. On 21 September 2015, Zou scored his second goal of the season in a 2–1 win against

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 ...

. Zou made thirty appearances for Guangzhou and won his first Super League and

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 ...

titles at the end of the 2015 season. On 17 December 2015, Zou suffered a fibula fracture and dislocation of an ankle joint in his left leg during the

2015 FIFA Club World Cup The 2015 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 presented by Alibaba E-Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament bet ...

semifinals against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

when he was knocked off balance by

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

. He received surgery twice in Japan on 18 December 2015 and 4 January 2016 respectively. Zou made his return from injury on 15 October 2016 in a 6–0 away win against Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. On 15 July 2017, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 home win against Shandong Luneng. Zou was linked with a transfer to Tianjin Quanjian after the 2017 season. However, he eventually stayed at the club following a series of disagreements between Guangzhou Evergrande, Tianjin Quanjian and

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 ...

. On 28 February 2019, Zou transferred to fellow top tier side Guangzhou R&F, signing a three-year contract.

International career

Zou made his debut for the Chinese national team on 8 September 2015 in a 3-0 win against

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

during

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

Honours

Club

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

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Player stats
at Sohu.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Zou, Zheng 1988 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Qingdao Qingdao Hainiu F.C. (1990) players Guangzhou F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Qingdao F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players China international footballers Association football defenders