Liu Haiguang (; born July 11, 1963) is a former Chinese international

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, rugb ...

who spent the majority of his career playing for the Shanghai Team, however he gained distinction when he joined Yugoslav club

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

along with Jia Xiuquan making them one of the earliest Chinese footballers to play in Europe.

Biography

Liu Haiguang started his youth career with the Shanghai Team and would soon break into the Chinese U-20 team where he took part in the

1983 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — w ...

where he scored one goal as China were knocked-out in the group stages. He would soon become a regular for Shanghai and also be promoted to the Chinese senior team where he was included in the squad for the

1984 AFC Asian Cup The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the 8th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were hosted by Singapore between 1 Decemb ...

, which saw China finish runners-up. After establishing himself as a regular for the national team he along with fellow international team mate Jia Xiuquan would join Yugoslav club

and together be one of the earliest Chinese footballers to play in a European club. Liu stayed for two seasons playing in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

where he won the

1988–89 Yugoslav Cup The 1988–89 Yugoslav Cup was the 41st season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup ( sh, Kup Jugoslavije), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. Cal ...

before soon returning to Shanghai. On the international stage he represented China at the

1988 AFC Asian Cup The 1988 AFC Asian Cup was the 9th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar between 2 December and 18 Decembe ...

and in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. When he decided to retire from international football he had scored 36 goals for

China national football team The China national football team (, recognised as China PR by FIFA) represents the People's Republic of China in international association football and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. China won the EAFF East Asian Cup in 2005 ...

making him their top goalscorer. This record would however be broken by Hao Haidong several years later and currently Liu is the second highest goalscorer.The topscorer for China national football team
/ref> He would retire completely from playing in 1991 and since then has become a businessman and founded 4 children football clubs.

International goals

Honours

Partizan *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

: 1988–89 Shanghai Team *

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 title ...

: 1991

References

External links

*
Sports News Article

International stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Haiguang 1963 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Shanghai China international footballers Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Chinese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Yugoslavia FK Partizan players Yugoslav First League players Association football forwards Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1988 AFC Asian Cup players Olympic footballers of China Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1986 Asian Games Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for China