Qi Hong

Qi Hong
祁宏

Personal information
Date of birth	3 June 1976 (1976-06-03)
Place of birth	Shanghai, China
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–2001	Shanghai Shenhua	145	(24)
2002–2004	Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili	40	(4)
2005	Shanghai Jiucheng	11	(4)
2006	Shanghai Liancheng	6	(0)
National team
1998–2003	China	39	(11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Qi.

Qi Hong (Chinese: 祁宏; pinyin: Qí Hóng; born June 3, 1976 in Shanghai) is a former Chinese international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or shadow striker throughout his career. He is predominately remembered for his time at Shanghai Shenhua where he won the league and Chinese FA Cup with them before controversially moving to then local neighbours Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili. While internationally he his remembered for being part of the Chinese squad that came fourth within the 2000 AFC Asian Cup as well as also being part of the squad that took part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

As a juvenile from Shanghai, he progressed at all the levels of the Shanghai Shenhua youth football training system and was a stand out player before he graduated into the senior side. Making his debut in the senior team at the 1995 league season, at the age of 19 years old he made a big impression by scoring 6 league goals in 14 appearances that helped contribute to Shanghai Shenhua winning the league championship. He would cement his position within the team the following season when he played in a further 16 league games scoring 4 goals, however this was not enough from regaining the title and Shanghai unfortunately came second in the league to Dalian Wanda. During his seven seasons at Shanghai he was only able to add a Chinese FA Cup to his honors and despite coming runners up several times they were often beaten by the dominant Dalian Wanda.

Qi Hong would surprise many when he transferred to SFC's local rivals Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili (now known as Shaanxi Neo-China Chanba F.C.) at the beginning of the 2002 league season. While the transfer initially saw Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili better Shanghai Shenhua by coming in 9th compared to Shanghai Shenhua's 12th and several seasons of that saw both teams fight for the title, Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili decided to move to Xi'an and Qi left. Deciding to stay in Shanghai Qi played for Shanghai Jiucheng who were in the second tier as well as ending his career with Shanghai Liancheng.

After his retirement in 2007.1, he devote himself into cultivating Chinese youth football player. Therefore, he and his good friend Shen Si, who was also a national football player, launched a local football club called Shanghai Lucky Star Youth Football Club, with the goal to develop the super football player for china.

International career

After his impressive performances for Shanghai Shenhua Qi Hong would be called up into the Chinese senior squad in 1998 where he would establish himself as a regular known for his outstanding football awareness and technical ability rather than his physical strength. During his time with the national team he and fellow Shanghai team members, Fan Zhiyi and Xie Hui were called "The Three Musketeers". Qi Hong particularly endeared himself to the national team when he scored three key goals in the Asian zone second stage in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup finals against United Arab Emirates and Oman to send China to their first World Cup. Highly respected, Qi Hong was often the key to the Chinese attack on the pitch even though he lacked the physical presence of others, yet he was the leader on the football pitch and was a very popular and respected footballer despite being a low-key and modest character.

Honours

Shanghai Shenhua

• Chinese Jia-A League: 1995
• Chinese FA Cup: 1998

External links

• [1] Player Profile at Fifa.com
• [2] 2002 China Team Player Profile at BBC website