Li Weifeng

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Li Weifeng
李玮峰
Personal information
Full nameLi Weifeng
Date of birth (1978-12-01) 1 December 1978
Place of birthChangchun, Jilin, China
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current clubTianjin Teda
Number5
Youth career
1990–1995Tianjin Locomotive
1996–1998Shenzhen Youth
1998Tianjin Locomotive
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998–2002Shenzhen Ping'an92(4)
2002–2003Everton1(0)
2003–2005Shenzhen Jianlibao59(4)
2006–2008Shanghai Shenhua49(8)
2008Wuhan Guanggu2(0)
2009–2010Suwon Bluewings48(2)
2011–Tianjin Teda79(2)
National team‡
1998–2011China112(14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 November 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 November 2013
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.

Li Weifeng (simplified Chinese: 李玮峰; traditional Chinese: 李瑋峰; pinyin: Lǐ Wěifēng; born 1 December 1978 in Changchun, Jilin) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League.

Club career

Li Weifeng previously played for Shenzhen Ping'an and had a short trial at Premier League side Everton immediately after the 2002 FIFA World Cup as part of an Everton deal with Chinese sponsor Kejian. During his time at Everton he only made two appearances, playing once in the league against Southampton and once in the league cup against Wrexham. [1] [2] Li was unable to make an impact at the club and returned to Shenzhen Jianlibao after the 2002-03 season.[3]

In the beginning of the 2006 season, Li Weifeng left Shenzhen Jianlibao due to the club's financial difficulties and followed many of his teammates out of the club. Shanghai Shenhua bought him for 6,000,000 yuan despite reported interest from Serie A side Fiorentina. In 2008, Li transferred from Shanghai Shenhua to Wuhan Guanggu due to a lack of playing time for the league runners-up, reuniting him with former manager Zhu Guanghu who also coached him in the Chinese national team as well as in Shenzhen Ping'an. Soon after the transfer, however Li was involved in an on-the-field incident which resulted in him being suspended for eight games by the Chinese Football Association. Already on the verge of relegation, Wuhan Guanggu amounted protests against this ruling which the club deemed to be unjust and extremely damaging to its chance to survive in the top flight. After its efforts were proven to be futile, Wuhan Guanggu withdrew from the league and was disbanded and Li did not appear in any games for the rest of the season.

Because of Wuhan Guanggu's withdrawal, most of its non-local and highly paid players were put on the transfer list at the end of the season with Li among one of them. Because of his reputation, high wage demand, gigantic transfer fee, and the unserved eight game suspension, Li was a hard commodity to move despite being perceived as heads and shoulders above the rest of the Chinese defenders. But the new AFC Champions League rule came to his rescue as it allowed all tournament participants to have one foreign Asian player. Attracting heavy interests from both the Japanese and Korean league, Li moved to Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K-League in January 2009, signing a two-year contract for a reported $400,000 and reuniting him with another one of his former managers. Some pundits suggested that Li moved on a free transfer because Wuhan Guanggu's withdrawal made all of its players free agents under FIFA's rules. However, Wuhan Guanggu immediately released statements announcing its intention to obstruct the move if it was not at least partly remunerated and media reports stated that Li would pay his former club himself in order to play for the Korean outfit.[4][5] Li was sent off in his first game for his new club against Sparta Prague in a friendly match in Hong Kong[6] However, Li redeemed himself in his first official match for Suwon in an AFC Champions League match against Kashima Antlers by scoring the opening goal which they won 4-1.

Li returned to China before the 2011 season and signed a contract with Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda on 18 January 2011.[7] He remained a major defender and leader on the pitch for Tianjin Teda and captained the team during the years he played for them.

International career

Li made his first appearance for the Chinese national team on 22 November 1998 in a friendly match against South Korea.[8] Li was promoted to team captain by then manager Arie Haan in 2003. In September 2006, he was banned from the Chinese national team for attacking an opposing player and hence earning his sixth red card in fourteen months during an AFC Champions League game with Shanghai Shenhua. His position as captain of the national team was stripped and later assigned to Zheng Zhi.

International goals

Results list China's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 12 December 1998 Thailand Bangkok  Oman 5-0 6-1 1998 Asian Games
2 26 January 2000 Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City  Guam 4-0 19-0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualifier
3 3 September 2000 China Shanghai  Iraq 1-0 4-1 Friendly international
4 3 September 2000 China Shanghai  Iraq 3-1 4-1 Friendly international
5 22 April 2001 China Xi'an  Maldives 10-1 10-1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
6 13 May 2001 China Kunming  Indonesia 1-1 5-1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
7 7 September 2001 Qatar Doha  Qatar 1-1 1-1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
8 15 September 2001 China Shenyang  Uzbekistan 1-0 2-0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
9 16 February 2003 China Wuhan  Estonia 1-0 1-0 Friendly international
10 17 November 2004 China Guangzhou  Hong Kong 7-0 7-0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier
11 22 February 2006 China Guangzhou  Palestine 2-0 2-0 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifier
12 21 October 2007 China Foshan  Myanmar 7-0 7-0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
13 25 May 2008 China Kunshan  Jordan 2-0 2-0 Friendly international
14 15 November 2011 Singapore Singapore  Singapore 2-0 4-0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
China PR League FA Cup CSL Cup Asia Total
1998Shenzhen Ping'anChinese Jia-A League11200--112
1999231--231
2000240--240
200124100--241
200210000--100
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2002-03EvertonPremier League100010-20
China PR League FA Cup CSL Cup Asia Total
2003Shenzhen JianlibaoChinese Jia-A League24330--273
2004Chinese Super League1313010-171
2005220206050350
2006Shanghai ShenhuaChinese Super League27421-30325
2007224--20244
200800---00
2008Wuhan GuangguChinese Super League20---20
South Korea League KFA Cup League Cup Asia Total
2009Suwon BluewingsK-League241512052364
2010241505090431
China PR League FA Cup CSL Cup Asia Total
2011Tianjin TedaChinese Super League24130-70341
201228010-50340
201327110--281
Total China PR 281181517022032519
England 1000100020
South Korea 48210170142795
Career total 3302025215036240624

Honours

Club

Shenzhen Jianlibao

Shanghai Shenhua

Suwon Bluewings

Tianjin Teda

International

China PR national football team

  • East Asian Football Championship: 2005

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Wrexham 0-3 Everton". BBC. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2012. 
  2. ↑ "Pahars punishes Everton". BBC. 11 September 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2012. 
  3. ↑ "Chinese defender leaves Everton". BBC. 20 January 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2012. 
  4. ↑ "수원, 중국 대표팀 수비수 리웨이펑과 2년 계약" (in Korean). Yahoo!. 2009-01-22. 
  5. ↑ "Li Weifeng is Suwon bound". FIFA. 2009-02-12. 
  6. ↑ "거친 플레이 리웨이펑 '우려가 현실로?'" (in Korean). Yahoo!. 2009-01-27. 
  7. ↑ "李玮峰已正式加盟天津泰达足球俱乐部" (in Chinese). sports.enorth.com.cn. 2011-01-18. 
  8. ↑ "李玮锋106场国际A级比赛记录 102次首发进13球" (in Chinese). Titan24. 2008-07-28. 

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Ma Mingyu		 China national football team captain
2003–2006 		Succeeded by
Zheng Zhi
Preceded by
Xiao Zhanbo		 Shanghai Shenhua F.C. captain
with Jiang Kun
2007 		Succeeded by
Du Wei
Preceded by
Zheng Zhi		 China national football team captain
2011 		Succeeded by
Sun Xiang
Tianjin Teda F.C. – current squad
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