Guan Zhen (; born February 6, 1985, in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

) is a former

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who last played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Shenzhen FC Shenzhen Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Shenzhen played its home matches at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre and the Shenzhen Stadium. Their majority shareholder was the Kaisa Group, ...

Club career

Shandong Luneng Taishan

Guan would make his senior club debut on March 16, 2003, for

Shandong Luneng Taishan Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a Chinese professional Association football, football club based in Jinan, Shandong, that competes in . Shandong Taishan plays its home matches at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, located within Lix ...

in a league game versus

Yunnan Hongta Yunnan Hongta (, lit. Yunnan Red Tower) was a football club who played in the Chinese Jia-A League who were founded by the Shenzhen Kinspar Group in 1996 and named Shenzhen Kinspar (). The club predominantly played within the lower leagues until ...

. His appearance was to make him the youngest goalkeeper to ever appear in the top tier in the Chinese league system, however this record was later broken by

Wang Dalei Wang Dalei (, born 10 January 1989) is a Chinese professional footballer who currently plays for Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan and the China national team. Club career Shanghai United Despite being only seventeen years old, ...

. After his debut he would play understudy to

Zong Lei Zong Lei (; born July 26, 1981) is a former Chinese football player. Club career Zong Lei started his football career playing for the Tianjin Teda F.C. youth team before breaking into the senior team during the 2001 league season. While at Ti ...

and Deng Xiaofei for several seasons, however Shandong Luneng would bring in

Li Leilei Li Leilei (; born June 30, 1977, in Beijing) is a Chinese people, Chinese former football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach. Club career Li Leilei started his career with second tier club Bayi Football ...

in the 2006 league season and Guan was loaned out to Chengdu F.C.

Chengdu Wuniu

Guan would join second tier club Chengdu F.C. on loan in 2006 to gain more playing time but failed to make it as their first choice goalkeeper. He would return to Shandong Luneng where he would once more be used as a third choice goalkeeper. Unable to improve upon his position Shandong Luneng Taishan were willing to let Guan leave at the end of the 2007 league season.

Jiangsu Sainty

He transferred to second tier club Jiangsu Sainty at the beginning of the 2008 league season and was immediately placed as their first-choice goalkeeper within the team. He played extremely well enough to immediately help the club in their push for promotion to the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

by aiding them to win the 2008 Chinese League One title. The following season Guan's former team mate Deng Xiaofei was brought into the club and for a short period replaced Guan as the team's first choice goalkeeper, however he would eventually go on to win back his place within the team and help establish Jiangsu within the top tier.

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright

In January 2015, Guan transferred to fellow

side

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Cangzhou, Hebei. Cangzhou Mighty Lions played its home matches at the Cangzhou Stadium, located within Yunhe District. Their majority shareholder is the Yong ...

. Guan scored his first ever goal in his 100th top-tier match on May 8, 2016, converting a penalty in a 2–1 loss against

Shanghai SIPG Shanghai Port Football Club (), previously Shanghai SIPG (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Port plays its home matches at the Pudong Football Stadium, located within Pudong. Their owners a ...

Yasen Petrov Yasen Petrov Petrov (; born 23 June 1968) is a Bulgarian former football player. His nickname is ''Giuseppe Giannini, Giannini from Plovdiv''. Career Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Petrov played for the PFC Botev Plovdiv, PFC Levski Sofia, PFC Slav ...

, manager of Shijiazhuang, expressed that Guan would be the first penalty kicker of the club until he missed. He scored his second penalty on May 22, 2016, in a 1–1 home draw against

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

. On June 19, 2016, Guan missed a penalty in a 1–0 victory against

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

before his teammate

Rúben Micael Rúben Micael Freitas da Ressureição (born 19 August 1986), known as Micael, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He totalled 206 Primeira Liga games and 19 goals over ten seasons, representing Naciona ...

took the other penalty of the match.

Shenzhen F.C.

On February 8, 2017, Guan transferred to

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side

Shenzhen F.C. Shenzhen Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Shenzhen played its home matches at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre and the Shenzhen Stadium. Their majority shareholder was the Kaisa Group, ...

He would make his debut appearance on 12 March 2017 against

Dalian Transcendence Dalian Transcendence Football Club () was a Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning. Founded in 2013, the club played in the Chinese professional league between 2014 and 2018. They quit from the professional league and turn as amateur in ...

in a league game that ended in a 6–0 victory. He would establish himself as a regular within the team and go on to gain promotion with the club at the end of the

2018 China League One The 2018 China League One ( zh, 58同城 2018中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 15th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league system, Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. The l ...

campaign. Guan Zhen retired in December 2020, and joined the backroom staff as an assistant goalkeeping coach.

International career

Guan was the first choice keeper for the Chinese U-20 team before the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

that was managed by

Eckhard Krautzun Eckhard Krautzun (born 13 January 1941) is a German football coach and former player. Managerial career As a player, Krautzun turned out for Union Solingen, Rheydter SV, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Young Fellows Zürich and TeBe Berlin. In 1968, ...

, however he was ruled out after suffering an injury before the tournament by his own teammate Wang Yongpo. He would go on to be promoted to the Chinese U-23 and was part of the squad that played in the

Football at the 2006 Asian Games Football at the 2006 Asian Games was held in Doha, Qatar from 18 November to 15 December 2006. The opening match was played 14 days prior to the opening ceremony. In this tournament, some 30 teams played in the men's competition, and 8 teams p ...

, however it was only after an impressive start to the 2009 Chinese Super League season with Jiangsu Sainty before Guan would be called up into

Gao Hongbo Gao Hongbo (; born January 25, 1966, in Beijing) is a Chinese professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He previously managed the China national football team from 2009 to 2011, and in 2016. Appointed in May 2 ...

's squad to face

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

in a 3–0 win on July 25, 2009, where he came on as a substitute for

Zeng Cheng Zeng Cheng (; born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League. Club career Zeng Cheng started his football career at top-tier side Wuhan Guanggu; however, he was soon loane ...

. His performance was good enough for him to be tried out in the

2010 East Asian Football Championship The 2010 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was the fourth edition of the tournament which was held between 6 and 14 February 2010. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2009. Participating teams Preliminary Round 1 * * * * Round ...

and then later included in the squad for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020.''

Honours

Club

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Jiangsu Sainty *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a Chinese football super cup competition that takes place every year before the start of the new season. It is contested between the champions of the previous Chinese Su ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Country

China PR national football team The China national football team ( zh, s=中国国家足球队, t=中國國家足球隊, p=Zhōngguó guójiā zúqiú duì), recognised as China PR by FIFA, represents China in men's international association football and is governed by the Ch ...

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

Official Jiangsu Sainty website
* *

at Sodasoccer.com
Player stats
at Sohu.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Zhen 1985 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Tianjin China men's international footballers 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Shandong Taishan F.C. players Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. players Jiangsu F.C. players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Chinese Super League players China League One players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for China