Zhao Yanming (; born January 16, 1981 in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

) is a Chinese football player as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Zhao Yanming began his football career playing for the

Tianjin Teda Tianjin Jinmen Tiger 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 Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...

's youth team before he eventually graduated permanently to the senior team by

Giuseppe Materazzi Giuseppe Materazzi (born 5 January 1946 in Arborea, Province of Oristano) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Sardinian-born Materazzi is best remember as one of the most representative p ...

in the 2003 league season where he spent the majority of the season playing as the team's third choice goalkeeper. For the next season he would work his way up as the team's second choice goalkeeper until

Liu Yunfei Liu Yunfei (; born 8 May 1979) is a Chinese international football goalkeeper who currently plays for Shaanxi Warriors Beyond. Internationally he played within the 2004 AFC Asian Cup; however, at the height of his career he was disciplined by ...

left at the beginning of the 2006 league season to join

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 ...

, which left the goalkeeping spot up for grabs. The Tianjin coach Liu Chunming would let Zhao fight for the spot against fellow goalkeeper

Tian Xu Tian Xu ( 220–264) was a military officer of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Life Tian Xu was from Wuzhong County (無終縣), Youbeiping Commandery (右北平郡), which is in present-day Jizhou District, Ti ...

at the beginning of the season and on March 19, 2006 in the second league game of the season against

Shenzhen Kingway 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 ...

Zhao was given his chance to establish himself within the team, which he did when he kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory. By the end of the season he was firmly established as the team's first choice goalkeeper and Tianjin finished sixth at the end of the season. Despite having a respectable campaign for a young goalkeeper the club brought in a new manager in Jozef Jarabinský as well as a new goalkeeper in Yang Jun who Jarabinský preferred. While Zhao may have been relegated back to the bench he stayed positive for the next several seasons until

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 ...

came to Tianjin as their manager at the beginning of the 2010 league season and promoted Zhao as the team's first choice goalkeeper once again after Yang Jun left the club after a contract dispute. Taking full advantage of his second opportunity Zhao would play through the whole campaign and help guide the club to a runners-up position at the end of the season. In March 2016, Zhao transferred to

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

side Jiangsu Yancheng Dingli.

References

External links

Player stats
at Sohu.com 1981 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Chinese footballers Footballers from Tianjin Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Tianjin Tianhai F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players {{PRChina-footy-bio-stub