Cheng Liang () (born 3 March 1977 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

) is a Chinese former international football player who played as a defender for Shanghai Pudong,

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" i ...

and

Shenzhen Ruby Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity ...

Club career

Shanghai Pudong

Originally starting his football career with the

youth team, Cheng Liang would find it difficult to break into the senior team where he was considered too weak and not fast enough to compete in the top tier. Leaving Shanghai Shenhua in 1997, Cheng Liang would instead join second tier club Shanghai Pudong and would eventually start his professional football career in the 1998 league season. After playing for Shanghai Pudong for several seasons he would be part of the squad that won promotion to the top tier. After establishing his club as top tier regulars Cheng would be part of the squad that came runners-up within the 2003 league season and would soon see him transfer back to top tier side

at the beginning of the 2005 league season for 3 million

yuan Yuan may refer to: Currency * Yuan (currency), the basic unit of currency in historic and contemporary mainland China and Taiwan ** Renminbi, the current currency used in mainland China, whose basic unit is yuan ** New Taiwan dollar, the current ...

Shanghai Shenhua

In the 2005 league season, he would make his debut for Shanghai Shenhua against

Qingdao Zhongneng Qingdao Hainiu Football Club (, known as Hai-niu or literally Sea Bull) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is ...

on April 2, 2005 in a 2-0 win. Cheng Liang however found his time limited at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

due to

Sun Xiang Sun Xiang (; ; born 15 January 1982) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a left back. He played for Shanghai Shenhua, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG in his native country and spent time on loan at Dutch club PSV Ein ...

being the first choice left back within the team. Cheng Liang would nevertheless still establish himself within the team because of his versatility to also play as a centre-back. From the beginning of the 2009 season, he took the

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

and on April 16, the club announced that he will also assume the role of assistant manager. His role as an assistant did not last long and when

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Saraj ...

came in to manage the club at the beginning of the

2010 Chinese Super League The 2010 Chinese Super League season was the seventh season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the seventeenth season of a professional association football league and the 49th top-tier league season in China. The teams ranked ...

season he brought his own assistants and during the summer transfer window Cheng was allowed to join

on loan for the rest of the season as a player. When Cheng returned from his loan period he saw his playing time significantly reduced due to injury and his age limiting him to a single game throughout the season against

Qingdao Jonoon F.C. Qingdao Hainiu Football Club (, known as Hai-niu or literally Sea Bull) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is b ...

on November 3, 2012 in the last league game of the season where Shenhua won 3-0 before he announced his retirement.

International career

Despite already being 32 years old Cheng Liang was to make his international debut against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

on 29 May 2009, in an impressive 1-1 friendly that saw him play as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He would continue to play as a centre-back for China's following friendly against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

on 4 June 2009 where China lost 4-1. Despite the defeat Cheng Liang has continued to be included in several further squads to add experience towards the team.

References

External links

* *
Profile at Shanghai Shenhua

Profile at Hudong.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Liang 1977 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shanghai China men's international footballers Beijing Chengfeng F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players Chinese Super League players Men's association football fullbacks Sichuan Jiuniu F.C. managers