Sun Jihai
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jihai Sun | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sheffield United | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:00, 27 March 2007 (UTC) | |||
Template:Chinese name Sun Jihai (Simplified Chinese: 孙继海) (born 30 September 1977 in Dalian, China) is a Chinese football player who currently plays for Championship side Sheffield United as a defender and for the China national football team as a midfielder.
Sun's main strengths are his speed, physical strength, crossing and attacking forays down the wings. He is a highly versatile player, having played as a central defender, a holding midfielder, and on both wings. Sun is one of the most important players in the Chinese national team.
Club career
Dalin Wanda
Sun started his professional career with Dalian Wanda in 1995 and made his first appearance on May 28, 1995. Sun did not intend to start his professional career at such a young age. Like all the top young Chinese players of that generation, he wanted to go to the training camp in Brazil. However, he was not selected as he was not deemed to possess enough potential. Sun Jihai showed great character by not letting this huge disappointment derail him. He worked very hard and eventually enjoyed what is undoubtedly the most successful career of any Chinese football player.
Crystal Palace
After three successful years at Dalian, Sun along with Fan Zhiyi signed for Crystal Palace in 1998. They became the first Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues. {Or in ethnicity, Cheung Chi Doy from British Hong Kong is.) Sun made his debut for Crystal Palace in a 0-3 defeat at Bury in the first leg of the Football League Cup match.
Manchester City
In 2002, Sun signed for Manchester City from Dalian for £2 million. He made his City debut in a 4-2 win over Coventry City.
Sun Jihai enjoyed a great start to his first season in the Premier league. His solid defense and dangerous attacking forays won over many City fans. He was voted the best player at Manchester City for the month of September 2002.
In October 2002, Sun became the first Chinese footballer to score in the Premier League when he headed home the first City goal in their 2-0 win over Birmingham City.
At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Sun damaged his cruciate ligaments in a tackle with Chelsea striker Eiður Guðjohnsen and missed the rest of the season. After recuperating and following a strict physical regimen devised by his father, Sun Jihai was a regular starter in the Man City line up.
Sun's 2006–07 season was set back yet again by another injury, he made his return on 10 February 2007, against Portsmouth, which Man City lost 2 - 1.
With the arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson, Sun rarely played in the 2007–08 season. He was replaced by Vedran Corluka on the right back position and Michael Ball plays as the defensive substitute instead of him.
Sheffield United
On the 2nd of July 2008, Sun Jihai signed a two year deal with Championship club Sheffield United.[1] Sun only managed 19 mins of his first match in a Blades shirt, getting sent off after picking up two yellows in a friendly.[2] He went on to make his full debut in the opening fixture of the season against Birmingham City.[3]
National career
Sun made his international debut for China on 6 December 1996 against Uzbekistan.
At China's first match during the 2002 FIFA World Cup against Costa Rica, Sun picked up an ankle injury after a tackle from behind by Costa Rican defender, Mauricio Solís after just 17 minutes. Unable to play, Sun was replaced after 25 minutes and sat out for the rest of China's matches.
On June 7, 2008, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Qatar, Sun was shown a straight red card for dissent while he was warming up as a substitute on the bench. China lost the match 0-1.
Club Career Stats
Last update: 3 July 2008 Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1995||rowspan="4"|Dalian Shide||||13||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1996||||21||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1997||||19||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1998||||18||1|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1998-99||Crystal Palace||First Division||23||0|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1999||rowspan="3"|Dalian Haichang||||8||1|||||||||||||||| |- |2000||||21||2|||||||||||||||| |- |2001||||23||3|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2001-02||rowspan="7"|Manchester City||First Division||7||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2002-03||rowspan="6"|Premier League||28||2|||||||||||||||| |- |2003-04||33||1|||||||||||||||| |- |2004-05||6||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2005-06||29||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2006-07||13||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2007-08||14||0|||||||||||||||| |- |2008-09||Sheffield United||Championship|||||||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 3123||7|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 4153||3|||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 5276||10|||||||||||||||| |}
References
- ^ "Boss makes double swoop". sufc.co.uk. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "KVK Tienen 1-3 Sheffield United - report". sufc.co.uk. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ^ "Birmingham City 1 Sheffield United 0". thestar.co.uk. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
External links
- Sun Jihai at Soccerbase
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