Sun Zheng'ao (; born 8 March 1994) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays as a defender for Zhejiang FC.

Club career

Sun joined Hangzhou Greentown youth team system from Qingdao Hainiu Football School when he was a teenager. He started his professional football career in 2011 when he was sent to

China League Two The Chinese Football League 2 (), or China League Two, is the third-tier association football league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association and operated by the Chinese Professional ...

club Wenzhou Provenza ( Hangzhou Greentown youth team) for one year. He played 10 times in the 2011 league season. Sun was promoted to Hangzhou Greentown's first team squad by

Takeshi Okada is a Japanese football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is currently the owner of FC Imabari Club career Okada was born in Osaka on August 25, 1956. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Japan Soccer League ...

in 2012. On 26 June 2012, he made his debut in the third round of 2012 Chinese FA Cup which Hangzhou beat Shanghai Dongya 3–0. In 2012 season, he mainly played in the reserve league and made just two appearances in the FA Cup. In July 2014, Sun moved to

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side Beijing BIT on a six-month loan deal. In February 2015, Sun was loaned to League One side

Shenzhen FC Shenzhen Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Shenzhen played its home matches at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre and the Shenzhen Stadium. Their majority shareholder was the Kaisa Group, ...

for one season. He made his Super League debut on 13 August 2016 in a 3–0 home victory against

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

. Unfortunately he would be part of the squad that was relegated at the end of the season. He would remain with the club and go on to establish himself as a regular member within the team as they renamed themselves Zhejiang Professional. He would then play a vital part as the club gained promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2021 campaign.

International career

Sun played for Chinese under-17 national team in the

2010 AFC U-16 Championship The 2010 AFC U-16 Championship was the 14th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The top 4 teams qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, hosted by Mexico. Oman, Iran, Jordan and Australia expressed an inte ...

. He played two matches in the group stage and was sent off in the second match against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. In October 2011, he was called up into China U-20 squad for

2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualification The qualification for the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship. Format The teams have been divided into two zones – West (23) and East (16). The teams will be divided into seven groups of six and five teams each. West Zone will have three groups of six ...

. Although China U-20 qualified into the

2012 AFC U-19 Championship The 2012 AFC U-19 Championship is the 37th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC approved UAE as hosts of the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship on 23 November 2011.

, he was sent off in the last match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with a flagrant foul, which team manager Jan Olde Riekerink considered it as a disgraceful action and said he would never call up Sun for the U-20s squad in the future. However, Riekerink took back his words and Sun received another called up for the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship. He played two matches in the championship as China were eliminated in the group stage after losing all three matches.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 January 2023.''孙正傲
at sodasoccer.com 2019-10-31 Retrieved 2019-10-31

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Zheng'ao 1994 births Living people Footballers from Qingdao Chinese men's footballers Zhejiang Professional F.C. players Wenzhou Provenza F.C. players Beijing Institute of Technology F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players China League Two players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Men's association football defenders