Chen Yongqiang (footballer)

Chen Yongqiang
陈永强

Personal information
Date of birth	November 1, 1978
Place of birth	Dalian, Liaoning, China
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10.1 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder, defender
Youth career
1994-1997	Bayi Football Team
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1998	Bayi Football Team	0	(0)
2000-2009	Shenzhen Ping'an Kejian	144	(2)
2010	Shanghai Shenhua	18	(0)
2011	Shenyang Shenbei	22	(0)
2012	Shenzhen Fengpeng	22	(0)
National team
2005	China	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 January 2012. † Appearances (goals)

Chen Yongqiang (simplified Chinese: 陈永强; traditional Chinese: 陳永強; pinyin: Chén Yǒngqiáng) (born November 1, 1978 in Dalian, Liaoning) is a Chinese football player.

Club career

Originally starting his career for Bayi Football Team he could not break into the squad and found it difficult to join another team until Shenzhen Ping'an Kejian took him on in October 1999 to begin his professional football career. He would go on to make debut during the 2000 league season and go to make ten league appearances, scoring one goal during the season.^[1] With his good physical presence and excellent composure he would firmly establish himself within the Shenzhen team and become their main defensive midfielder within the team. By the 2004 league season his consistency would be rewarded when he helped Shenzhen win the inaugural Chinese Super League title.^[2]

After this success he would receive his first international call-up, however on June 11, 2005 he was severely attacked at a restaurant on a night out with his wife and her family, with his injuries he would miss much of the 2005 league season.^[3] When he returned to Shenzhen he found that the club had changed significantly with many of his influential team mates leaving due to the financial problems at the club while Chen remained with team for the next several seasons to help them fight off relegation. With several managers coming in fight off relegation Chen found himself slipping down the pecking order within the team with the 2009 league season being the difficult period for Chen after he fell out of favour within the team and only played a small part within the campaign. When the season ended the club decided not to renew his contract, however he was recommended to Shanghai Shenhua where despite being over 31 years old and one of the oldest players within the squad he would still quickly establish himself as regular within the team.^[4] While he gained significant playing time out of position within defence at the start of the season, his importance within the team would dwindle throughout the season and Chen was allowed to leave for second tier football club Tianjin Runyulong at the beginning of the 2011 league season.^[5]

International career

Chen Yongqiang's former Shenzhen manager Zhu Guanghu would include him in his first squad to play against Spain in a friendly on March 26, 2005 that China lost 3-0.^[6] This was followed by another friendly against Republic of Ireland on March 29, 2005 in another friendly game that China lost 1-0.^[7] Due to his injuries he experienced after his restaurant attack he missed several months out of football and would lose his place within the team.

Honours

Shenzhen

• Chinese Super League: 2004

References

1. Chén, Yǒngqiáng at nationalfootballteams.com Retrieved 2012-07-17
2. China 2004 at rsssf.com 7 Apr 2005 Retrieved 2012-07-17
3. 深圳国脚陈永强遇暴徒被砍三刀 受重伤入院抢救 at sports.sina.com.cn 2005-06-11 Retrieved 2012-07-17
4. 小赫尚未归队扬科成抢手货 陈永强加盟申花几成定局 at sports.sina.com.cn 2010-01-08 Retrieved 2012-07-17
5. 陈永强加盟天津润宇隆 直言：职业生涯最后一站 at sports.163.com 2011-02-28 Retrieved 2012-07-17
6. 中国 0-3 西班牙 at teamchina.freehostia.com 2005-03-26 Retrieved 2012-07-17
7. 中国 0-1 爱尔兰 at freehostia.com 2005-03-29 Retrieved 2012-07-17

External links

• Player Profile at 163.com
• Player Profile at Shanghai Shenhua website
• Player stats at sohu.com