Zhang Haitao

Zhang Haitao
张海涛
Personal information
Full name张海涛
Date of birthApril 11, 1970
Place of birthJinan, Shandong, China
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionDefender (retired)
Club information
Current team
None
Youth career
1983–1989Shandong Team
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1989–1998Shandong Team?(?)
Teams managed
1999-2003Shandong Luneng Youth
2003-2004China Women Soccer
2005- presentShandong Luneng(assistant manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Haitao (simplified Chinese: 张海涛; traditional Chinese: 張海濤; pinyin: Zhāng Hǎitāo; born April 11, 1970 in Jinan, Shandong, China) is a Chinese football coach and a former player. He would spend his whole career with the Shandong Team before he retired and moved into youth management with the Shandong Luneng Youth team. He would then move into senior management with the Chinese Women football team before returning to Shandong where he is the current assistant manager.

Playing career

Born into a respectable family, Haitao was able to go to University while still playing and for the Shandong youth team. In 1989 he would eventually graduate to the senior team and play as defender in his first season, however he would actually see his team get relegated when Shandong finished 7th in the league.[1] After several rough seasons where Shandong spent much of their time in the lower leagues Zhang gained significant playing time which would aid him when Shangdong would eventually become a professional football team in 1994 and allowed entry to the top tier. With another chance to play in the top tier Zhang helped Shandong to finish the season in a respectable 5th at the end of the 1994 league season despite missing much of it through severe injury to his right knee.[2] Despite missing much of the following season he was able to help Shandong finish a respectable 6th and achieve his greatest playing moment when he would helped Shandong win the 1995 Chinese FA Cup. Zhang would retire from football by the end of the 1998 league season after being unable to fully recover from his knee damage and was given the chance to manage the Shandong Luneng Youth team in December 1998.

Coach career

China Women National Soccer Team

After spending several years training as a manager with the Shandong Luneng Youth team where he was considered a talented young coach able to speak fluent English he was offered the chance to be head coach of the China Women's national team in 2003 ready for 2004 Olympics at Athens. His time as the Head Coach however was not successful as China were unable to get out of the group stages after a heavy defeat to Germany, which saw them lose 8-0.[3] This effectively saw Zhang Haitao to leave his position as the head coach once the tournament finished.

References

  1. "China 1989". rsssf.com. 22 Oct 2009. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  2. "张海涛". olympic.cn. 2003-12-17. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  3. "Games of the XXVIII. Olympiad". rsssf.com. 3 Oct 2004. Retrieved 2012-09-25.

External links