Gu Guangming (; born 31 January 1959) is a Chinese former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. Nicknamed "The Weatherfish" because of his ability to dribble out of tight spaces on the flanks and in the corners while avoiding tackles, Gu played for the Guangdong provincial team in the semi-professional Chinese Jia League from 1976 to 1985 and became the second Chinese player to play in a European professional league when he played for SV Darmstadt 98 in the German 2. Bundesliga from 1987 to 1992. On the international level, he played for the China national team from 1979 to 1985, participating in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualifications.

Playing career

Gu was considered a highly talented young player and joined top tier Chinese Jia League side Guangdong provincial team by the 1976 league season. He soon went on to play for the Chinese National Junior Team before Gu went on to see his club win the Chinese league title at the end of the 1979 league season before being called up to the Chinese national team for the first time. With the national team he went on to be in the squads that took part in the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1984 AFC Asian Cup The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the 8th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were hosted by Singapore between 1 December and 16 December 198 ...

third placed team, while also participating in the

and the

qualifications. In 1985, Gu suffered a broken right

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

injury in a domestic match against the Beijing football team, and was forced out of all competitions for almost two years. In 1987, he made a comeback in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and played for five seasons with SV Darmstadt 98 in the 2. Bundesliga from 1987 to 1993, becoming the first footballer from the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to play in a European professional league.

Honours

Club

;

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League (simplified Chinese: 全国足球甲A联赛), commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of th ...

: 1979

Individual

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Best XI: 1980–1983 * AFC All-Star Team: 1985 * Voted "Favorite Football Player in China" by fans: 1986

References

External links

Player profile
at Sodasoccer {{DEFAULTSORT:Gu, Guangming 1959 births Living people People from Shaoguan Chinese football managers Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shaoguan China men's international footballers TuS Koblenz players SV Darmstadt 98 players 2. Bundesliga players Chinese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Germany 1980 AFC Asian Cup players 1984 AFC Asian Cup players Men's association football wingers 20th-century Chinese sportsmen