Sun Wen (footballer)

Sun Wen (simplified Chinese: 孙雯; traditional Chinese: 孫雯; pinyin: Sūn Wén; born April 6, 1973 in Shanghai) is a retired Chinese professional football (soccer) player. She previously captained the China women's national football team and the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).

Sun Wen
孙雯
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-04-06) April 6, 1973
Place of birth Shanghai, China
Height 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–2000 Shanghai 659 (164)
2001–2002 Atlanta Beat 33 (7)
2003 Shanghai SVA
2006 Shanghai SVA
National team
1990–2006 China[1] 163[2] (106[3])
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In 2000, she won the FIFA Female Player of the Century along with Michelle Akers. Sun won both the Golden Ball (top player) and Golden Boot (top scorer) for her performance at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. She is considered one of the all-time greats of the women's game.[4][5]

Early life

Sun began playing football around the age of ten. Her father, Sun Zonggao, was a recreational football player who took Sun with him to watch matches in the Chinese men's league. Sun credits him for influencing her foray into the sport.[6][7]

Sun studied Chinese literature at the University of Shanghai.

Playing career

Shanghai SVA

Sun played for the Shanghai team in the Chinese women's league.[6]

Atlanta Beat

Sun played for the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association from 2001 to 2002. She was the first overall pick of the WUSA's Inaugural Draft, but a knee and ankle injury limited her first season with the Beat to 13 games with five starts. During the league's semifinal match against the Philadelphia Charge, the Beat were down 2–0, however, Sun scored on a penalty kick and then provided the assist on the equalizer goal with a corner kick headed in by Cindy Parlow. The Beat would go on to win the match 3–2. She then notched the Beat's third goal in the Founders Cup helping the team to an eventual 3–3 tie during regulation. The San Jose CyberRays won the title in a penalty kick shootout.[8][9]

During the 2002 season, Sun played in 18 games, making 10 starts. She scored four goals as the Beat earned another chance at the playoffs, but the Beat were eliminated in the semifinals.[10]

Sun announced her retirement from the WUSA in January 2003 to return to China in preparation for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.[11]

International

Sun appeared on China's national squad at the age of 17 and went on to appear in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments for China and became one of three women to have played all of China's 15 matches in its three World Cup appearances.[12] In 1999, she had 10 goals in her World Cup career, leaving her tied for second place on an all-time scoring list.[6]

Sun helped the national team win the Asian Cup in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997.[13]

Sun led China to a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Athens, Georgia. During the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Sun scored seven goals and earned the Golden Ball (top player) and Golden Boot (top scorer) at the tournament.

She returned to the Chinese women's team from a two-year retirement on December 15, 2005.[14] Due to injury reasons, Sun retired again after winning AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2006.

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Sun played 28 matches and scored 16 goals in 4 world cup tournaments and 2 Olympics: China 1991, Sweden 1995, Atlanta 1996, USA 1999, Sydney 2000, USA 2003; she played and started every match for China. Sun Wen, with her China teams, won a silver medal at Atlanta 1996 Olympics, and finished second at USA 1999 world cup.

Key (expand for notes on “world cup and olympic goals”)
Location Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Lineup Start – played entire match
on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time

off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain

Min The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score The match score after the goal was scored.
Result The final score.

W – match was won
L – match was lost to opponent
D – match was drawn
(W) – penalty-shoot-out was won after a drawn match
(L) – penalty-shoot-out was lost after a drawn match

aet The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
Goal Match Date Location Opponent Lineup Min Score Result Competition
China 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup
1
1991-11-16[m 1] Guangzhou  Norway {{{4}}}.

off 70' (on Zhu Tao)

4–0 W

Group stage
1
2
1991-11-19[m 2] Guangzhou  Denmark Start 37

1–1

2–2 D

Group stage
3
1991-11-21[m 3] Foshan  New Zealand Start

4–1 W

Group stage
4
1991-11-24[m 4] Guangzhou  Sweden Start

0–1 L

Quarter-final
Sweden 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup
2
5
1995-06-06[m 5] Gävle  United States Start 79

3–3

3–3 D

Group stage
6
1995-06-08[m 6] Västerås  Australia Start

4–2 W

Group stage
3
7
1995-06-10[m 7] Västerås  Denmark Start 76

2–1

3–1 W

Group stage
8
1995-06-13[m 8] Helsingborg  Sweden Start

1–1 (pso 4–3) (W)

Quarter-final
9
1995-06-15[m 9] Helsingborg  Germany Start

0–1 L

Semi-final
10
1995-06-17[m 10] Gävle  United States {{{4}}}.

off 59' (on Wei Haiying)

0–2 L

Third place match
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Women's Football Tournament
11
1996-07-21[m 11] Miami  Sweden Start

2–0 W

Group stage
12
1996-07-23[m 12] Miami  Denmark {{{4}}}.

off 43' (on Chen Yufeng)

5–1 W

Group stage
13
1996-07-25[m 13] Miami  United States Start

0–0 D

Group stage
14
1996-07-28[m 14] Athens GA  Brazil Start

3–2 W

Semi-final
4
15
1996-08-01[m 15] Athens GA  United States Start 32

1–1

1–2 L

Gold medal match
USA 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
16
1999-06-19[m 16] San Jose CA  Sweden {{{4}}}.

off 74' (on Pu Wei)

2–1 W

Group stage
5
17
1999-06-23[m 17] Portland OR  Ghana Start 9

1–0

7–0 W

Group stage
6
21

3–0

7
54

4–0

8
18
1999-06-26[m 18] E Rutherford NJ  Australia {{{4}}}.

off 63' (on Qiu Haiyan)

39

1–0

3–1 W

Group stage
9
51

2–0

19
1999-06-30[m 19] San Jose CA  Russia Start

2–0 W

Quarter-final
10
20
1999-07-04[m 20] Boston  Norway Start 3

1–0

5–0 W

Semi-final
11
72 pk

5–0

21
1999-07-10[m 21] Los Angeles  United States Start

0–0 (pso 4–5) (L)

Final
Sydney 2000 Olympic Women's Football Tournament
12
22
2000-09-14[m 22] Canberra  Nigeria Start 57

2–0

3–1 W

Group stage
13
83

3–0

14
23
2000-09-17[m 23] Melbourne  United States Start 67

1–1

1–1 D

Group stage
15
24
2000-09-20[m 24] Canberra  Norway Start 75

1–1

1–2 L

Group stage
USA 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
16
25
2003-09-21[m 25] Carson CA  Ghana Start; (c) 29

1–0

1–0 W

Group stage
26
2003-09-25[m 26] Carson CA  Australia Start; (c)

1–1 D

Group stage
27
2003-09-28[m 27] Portland OR  Russia Start; (c)

1–0 W

Group stage
28
2003-10-02[m 28] Portland OR  Canada Start; (c)

0–1 L

Quarter-final

Honors and awards

A strong striker with great skills and passing abilities, Sun won both the Golden Boot (which she shared with Sissi, of Brazil) and the Golden Ball for the 1999 Women's World Cup, and became the first woman to be nominated for the Asian Football Confederation player of the year award.

In 2002, she was received the FIFA Internet Award in the FIFA Female Player of the Century voting. While the overall award was won by American Michelle Akers, Sun received the most internet votes on the FIFA-website.[15]

See also

References

  1. 中国女足出局玫瑰提前凋零 孙雯宣布挂靴 (in Chinese). 潇湘晨报. 2003-10-04. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  2. "FIFA Century Club" (PDF). FIFA. 9 February 2011.
  3. "Sun's retirement leaves China to suffer wait for new genius". China Daily.
  4. Lewis, Michael (2016-08-03). "The 20 greatest female football players of all time". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  5. FIFA.com (2010-11-25). "Who is the greatest women's footballer of all time?". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  6. Hersh, Philip (1999-07-06). "Hot? Chinese Star Sun Blazing". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  7. "Sun Wen: A World-class Soccer Player". Women of China. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  8. "Beat chooses Chinese star forward first in WUSA draft". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  9. "Sun Wen is up'beat' heading into title game". USA Today. 2001-08-24. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  10. "Chinese star leaves Atlanta to concentrate on World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  11. "Superstar Striker Retires; Beat Adds German to the Attack". Our Sports Central. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  12. "Legend Sun Wen impessed by Japan". FIFA.
  13. "Sun Wen leads off second day of Olympic Torch Relay in Shanghai". Beijing Olympics. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  14. "Ma returns to coach women's team; Sun Wen back". China Daily.
  15. Whiteside, Kelly (2001-08-23). "Sun Wen is up'beat' heading into title game". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-08-12.

Match reports

  1. "FIFA Women's World Cup China 1991: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Norway". FIFA.
  2. "FIFA Women's World Cup China 1991: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Denmark". FIFA.
  3. "FIFA Women's World Cup China 1991: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - New Zealand". FIFA.
  4. "FIFA Women's World Cup China 1991: MATCH Report: Quarter-finals: China PR - Sweden". FIFA.
  5. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Group matches: USA - China PR". FIFA.
  6. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Australia". FIFA.
  7. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Denmark". FIFA.
  8. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Quarter-finals: Sweden - China PR". FIFA.
  9. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Semi-finals: Germany - China PR". FIFA.
  10. "FIFA Women's World Cup Sweden 1995: MATCH Report: Match for third place: China PR - USA". FIFA.
  11. "Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996: MATCH Report: First stage: Sweden - China PR". FIFA.
  12. "Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996: MATCH Report: First stage: Denmark - China PR". FIFA.
  13. "Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996: MATCH Report: First stage: USA - China PR". FIFA.
  14. "Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996: MATCH Report: Semi-finals: China PR - Brazil". FIFA.
  15. "Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996: MATCH Report: Gold medal match: China PR - USA". FIFA.
  16. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Sweden". FIFA.
  17. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Ghanna". FIFA.
  18. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Australia". FIFA.
  19. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Quarter-finals: China PR - Russia". FIFA.
  20. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Semi-finals: Norway - China PR". FIFA.
  21. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 1999: MATCH Report: Final: USA - China PR". FIFA.
  22. "Olympic Football Tournaments Sydney 2000: MATCH Report: First stage: China PR - Nigeria". FIFA.
  23. "Olympic Football Tournaments Sydney 2000: MATCH Report: First stage: USA - China PR". FIFA.
  24. "Olympic Football Tournaments Sydney 2000: MATCH Report: First stage: Norway - China PR". FIFA.
  25. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Ghanna". FIFA.
  26. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Australia". FIFA.
  27. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003: MATCH Report: Group matches: China PR - Russia". FIFA.
  28. "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003: MATCH Report: Quarter-finals: China PR - Canada". FIFA.
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