Sun Jihai

Sun Jihai
Personal information
Full name	Sun Jihai
Date of birth	September 30, 1977 (1977-09-30) (age 32)
Place of birth	Dalian, Liaoning, China
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Right Back
Club information
Current club	Chengdu Blades
Number	22
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1998 1998–1999 1999–2002 2002–2008 2008–2009 2009–	Dalian Wanda Crystal Palace Dalian Shide Manchester City Sheffield United Chengdu Blades	071 (1) 023 (0) 052 (6) 130 (3) 012 (0) 004 (0)
National team2
1996–2008	China	072 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 July 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 2 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

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

Sun Jihai (simplified Chinese: 孙继海; traditional Chinese: 孫繼海; pinyin: Sūn Jìhǎi; born 30 September 1977 in Dalian, Liaoning, China) is a Chinese association football player who is currently playing for Chinese side Chengdu Blades and for the China national football team as a defender or 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

Dalian 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 footballers from China to play in the English leagues. 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.^[1]

At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Sun damaged his cruciate ligaments^{[disambiguation needed]} 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-Göran Eriksson, Sun rarely played in the 2007–08 season. He was replaced by Vedran Corluka on the right back position and Michael Ball played 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.^[2] Sun only managed 19 mins of his first match in a Blades shirt, getting sent off after picking up two yellows in a friendly.^[3] He went on to make his full debut in the opening fixture of the season against Birmingham City.^[4] He was sent off during a game against Coventry City after a lunging tackle from behind on Maltese player Michael Mifsud. The FA charged him for his behavior after receiving a red card but considered his past good record, handed him an additional one match ban. Having played regularly until November he succumbed to an injury and subsequently failed to force his way back into the first team and made only a handful of appearances in the FA Cup in the second half of the season. Sun was then released from his contract in July 2009 with United claiming he had 'failed to settle' in Yorkshire.^[5]

Chengdu Blades

He left Sheff Utd and has signed for Chengdu Blades, hoping to make an impact.

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: 20 August 2009

References

External links

• Sun Jihai career stats at Soccerbase

Preceded by Huang Dongchun

Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year 1998

Succeeded by Zhang Xiaorui

China Squad v • d • e China Squad – 1996 AFC Asian Cup 1 Jiang Hong • 3 Wei Qun • 4 Zhang Enhua • 5 Xu Hong • 6 Fan Zhiyi • 7 Hao Haidong • 8 Ma Mingyu • 9 Cao Xiandong • 10 Li Bing • 11 Peng Weiguo • 12 Su Maozhen • 13 Sun Jihai • 14 Jiang Feng • 15 Han Jinming • 16 Li Ming • 17 Gao Feng • 19 Wu Chengying • 20 Ou Chuliang • 21 Liu Yue • 22 Han Wenhai • 23 Xie Hui • Coach: Qi Wusheng v • d • e China squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 An Qi • 2 Zhang Enhua • 3 Yang Pu • 4 Wu Chengying • 5 Fan Zhiyi • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Li Tie • 9 Ma Mingyu • 10 Hao Haidong • 11 Yu Genwei • 12 Su Maozhen • 13 Gao Yao • 14 Li Weifeng • 15 Zhao Junzhe • 16 Qu Bo • 17 Du Wei • 18 Li Xiaopeng • 19 Qi Hong • 20 Yang Chen • 21 Xu Yunlong • 22 Jiang Jin • 23 Ou Chuliang • Coach: Milutinović v • d • e China Squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Runners Up 1 Liu Yunfei • 3 Sun Xiang • 4 Zhang Yaokun • 5 Zheng Zhi • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Zheng Bin • 9 Hao Haidong • 11 Li Yi • 12 Wei Xin • 13 Xu Yunlong • 14 Li Weifeng (c) • 15 Zhao Junzhe • 16 Ji Mingyi • 18 Li Xiaopeng • 19 Zhang Shuo • 21 Li Ming • 22 Yan Song • 23 Li Jian • 25 Zhou Haibin • 27 Zhou Ting • 29 Li Jinyu • Coach: Haan v • d • e China Squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Li Leilei • 2 Du Wei • 3 Sun Xiang • 4 Zhang Yaokun • 5 Li Weifeng • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Li Tie • 9 Han Peng • 10 Zheng Zhi (c) • 11 Dong Fangzhuo • 12 Zhao Xuri • 13 Zhang Shuai • 14 Zhu Ting • 15 Wang Dong • 16 Ji Mingyi • 18 Zhou Haibin • 19 Zheng Bin • 20 Mao Jianqing • 21 Wang Peng • 22 Yang Jun • 23 Cao Yang • 30 Zong Lei • Coach: Zhu Guanghu