Sun Xiang

Sun Xiang
孙祥
Personal information
Full name	Xiang Sun
Date of birth	January 15, 1982 (age 42)
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Left midfielder, Left back
Team information
Current team	Guangzhou Evergrande
Number	32
Youth career
1995–2001	Shanghai Cable 02
Senior career*
Years	Team
2002–2010	Shanghai Shenhua
2007	→ PSV Eindhoven (loan)
2008–2009	→ FK Austria Wien (loan)
2010–	Guangzhou Evergrande
International career‡
2000–2001	China U-20
2002–2003	China U-23
2002–	China
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2012; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 February 2012

Template:Chinese name

Sun Xiang (simplified Chinese: 孙祥; traditional Chinese: 孫祥; pinyin: Sūn Xiáng; born January 15, 1982 in Shanghai) is a Chinese international football player who currently plays as a defender for Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League and is also the twin brother of fellow international footballer Sun Ji. On February 20, 2007 Sun would became the first Chinese footballer to play in a UEFA Champions League match when he played for PSV Eindhoven in a 1–0 win over Arsenal.^[1]

Club career

Shanghai Shenhua

Sun Xiang would begin his football career playing for Shanghai Cable 02 before the club were taken over by Shanghai Shenhua and then promoted to their senior team at the beginning of the 2002 league season with his twin brother Sun Ji where they would both quickly establish themselves within their team. The following season he would become Shanghai's first choice left-back within the team and go on to win the 2003 league title with them.^[2] For the next several seasons he would continue to be a vital member of the Shanghai team and would attract the attentions from Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven in 2006.

PSV Eindhoven

Sun, and his twin brother Sun Ji both had trials with Dutch team PSV Eindhoven late in 2006, but PSV decided they would not sign the pair. PSV would have a change of heart and decided to sign the defender on loan for the latter half of the 2006–07 season with an option to sign him on a three year contract at the end of the season. The announcement came a day after Sun appealed to be released by his club. "The Dutch proposal is a great opportunity for me to take my career to a new level and I just can't let it slip through my fingers," Sun told the Shanghai Daily. "I am appealing to Shenhua to let me go," he said before the deal.

He would make his debut on February 17, 2007 against Heracles Almelo as a left back with the manager Ronald Koeman remarking that Sun had a very deserving debut and contributed to PSV through his good vision and precise passing. His debut would make Sun the first Chinese footballer to play in the Eredivisie. After the end of his loan period, he was rejected by PSV and not awarded with a long-term contract despite appeals from the player of his desire to stay with the Dutch side.^[3] Vitesse had shown interest but negotiations with Shenhua and the player stalled and eventually fell through.

FK Austria Wien

On July 1, 2008, Austria Vienna signed Sun on a one year deal with the possibility of a one year extension. Like before in the Eredivisie and Champions League, Sun had the honour of being the first Chinese footballer to play in the Austrian Bundesliga.^[4] Once again when his loan period expired he would return to the Shanghai where he would play in the remainder of the Chinese 2009 league season.

Guangzhou F.C.

On 28 April 2010, Sun announced that he would give up joining Australia's A-League side Sydney FC and signed a long-term contract with the recently relegated Guangzhou Evergrande instead in the summer transfer window.^[5] He would make his China League One debut for Guangzhou with fellow recently signed Chinese international Zheng Zhi on 21 July, in a 10-0 home win against Nanjing Yoyo. On 18 September 2010, Sun scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home win against Yanbian FC. In season 2010, Sun scored one goal in fourteen appearances as Guangzhou finished first place in the League One and won promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt. The following season Sun would continue to be a major part of the Guangzhou team that would invest heavily in improving the squad and with the club bringing in two time Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Player of the Year award winner Darío Conca the club would win its first ever league title at the end of the 2011 league season.

Career statistics

Club career stats

Last update: 30 October 2010

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
2000	Shanghai Cable 02	China	3	?	?
2001	Shanghai Cable 02	China	-	0	0
2002	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	25	2
2003	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	25	2
2004	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	20	0
2005	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	22	3
2006	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	15	2
06/07	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	1	5	0
2007	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	14	2
2008	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	4	0
08/09	FK Austria Wien	Austria	1	19	2
2009	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	11	2
2010	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	0	0
2010	Guangzhou Evergrande	China	2	14	1
2011	Guangzhou Evergrande	China	1	25	1

International goals

Results list China's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 June 2005	Changsha	Costa Rica	2-2	2-2	Friendly
2	31 July 2005	Daejeon	South Korea	1-0	1-1	East Asian Cup 2005
3	11 October 2006	Amman	Palestine	2-0	2-0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	22 June 2008	Sydney	Australia	1-0	1-0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	6 October 2011	Shenzhen	United Arab Emirates	1-0	2-1	Friendly