Zong Lei

Zong Lei (Chinese: 宗磊; pinyin: Zōng Lěi; born July 26, 1981) is a former Chinese football player.

Zong Lei
宗磊
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-07-26) July 26, 1981
Place of birth Tianjin, China
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1998–2000 Tianjin Teda
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Tianjin Teda 1 (0)
2004–2005 Shandong Luneng 13 (0)
2006–2012 Changchun Yatai 141 (0)
2013–2016 Tianjin Teda 39 (0)
2017 Tongji University 9
National team‡
2007–2009 China 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2016
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2012
In this Chinese name, the family name is Zong.

Club career

Zong Lei started his football career playing for the Tianjin Teda F.C. youth team before breaking into the senior team during the 2001 league season. While at Tianjin Teda he would struggle to gain any significant playing time and after several seasons he would transfer to Shandong Luneng where he replaced Deng Xiaofei for the goalkeeping position for a short period. It was during this time that he would win the Chinese FA Cup and Super League Cup at the end of the 2004 league season, however the following season saw him lose his place within the team. By the beginning of the 2006 league season newly promoted Changchun Yatai were interested in him and he was allowed to leave after a 2 million yuan transfer. At Changchun Yatai he would immediately become their first choice goalkeeper and see them surprise many by coming fourth in the league.[1] The following season saw him improve upon the previous season's results and he would go on to play a key role in their 2007 Chinese Super League title winning season.[2] Zong returned to Tianjin Teda in 2013. He retired from football at the end of 2016 season.[3]

International career

In preparation for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup Zong Lei would play in a friendly against Kazakhstan on February 2, 2007 where he made his international debut in a game, which China won 2-1.[4] His performance was considered good enough for the Chinese Head coach Zhu Guanghu to include him in the tournament where he was the third choice goalkeeper and did not play in any games.[5] When the new head coach Vladimir Petrović came in immediately after the tournament Zong Lei would be promoted as the national team's first choice goalkeeper and would play in several FIFA World Cup qualifiers. When China failed to qualify and Vladimir Petrović's reign ended Zong Lei would find himself out of favour and was dropped from the subsequent squads.

Honours

Shandong Luneng[1]

Changchun Yatai[1]

References
  1. "Zōng, Lěi". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. "China 2007". rsssf.com. 18 Apr 2008. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  3. "泰达人员新季将变脸 曲波等4人+领队助教离队". Sina. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  4. "China PR - Kazakhstan". football-lineups.com. 7 Feb 2007. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  5. "Malaysia 1 – 5 China PR" (PDF). the-afc.com. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
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