Li Fusheng (; January 4, 1953 – December 2, 2007) was a

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 ...

international

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 ...

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 ...

. He represented Chengdu Military Football Team and

Bayi Football Team The Bayi or August First Football Team (), known fully as the People's Liberation Army Bayi Football Club (), was a football team under the sport branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that played in China's football league system between 19 ...

at club level while also having a long association representing China at international level where he made 119 appearances making him China's highest capped goalkeeper.

Playing career

Li Fusheng was born in

Ju County Ju County or Juxian () is a county of Rizhao City, in the south of Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization al ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

but moved to

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

to receive training in a Sports School where after he graduated he got a job in a petroleum factory to support his family after the death of his father. This was short lived after he was able to gain a place within the youth team of Dalian football club in 1972 before he then moved to the senior team Chengdu military football team in 1973. By 1975 the

who were the top military football team took Li Fusheng into their club and his career started to flourish after his performances were impressive enough to receive a call up to the Chinese national team and even go on to be included in the squad that came third in the

1976 AFC Asian Cup The 1976 AFC Asian Cup was the 6th 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 Iran between 3 and 13 June 1976. The field of six ...

. After the tournament he would go on to become the team's first choice goalkeeper for the next several seasons and was part of the squad who narrowly missed out in qualifying for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, losing to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in a play-off.

Life outside football

After a highly distinguished career where he was a highly regarded goalkeeper despite being relatively short for a goalkeeper he would retire from football in 1984 and move into coaching taking on a coaching role within

before becoming the team's leader. His role as a coach gave him access to the problems within Chinese football and he along with several other high-profile former players demanded the Chinese FA conform to full professionalism. After achieving this he would decide to move away from football and join the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

where he went to the

Central Party School The Central Party School is a higher education institution that trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. It is located in Haidian, Beijing, close to Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The current president is Chen Xi, a former member o ...

and then the

PLA National Defense University The National Defense University is a national public collegiate military university headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, China, with constituent and affiliated military academies nationwide. Established in 1985 by a military order of Deng X ...

to become a

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

before he took on a position at the

Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution is the national military museum of China, located in Haidian, Beijing. The collection mainly focuses on military equipments and cultural relics reflecting the military history of the Peopl ...

where he was the deputy director in charge of cultural relics. In August 2007 after moving to a home and decorating he fell off a ladder and sustained serious head injuries. He stayed within the hospital for three months before dying of his injuries on December 2, 2007.

Honours

Bayi Football Team * China national league: 1977, 1981

References

External links

Profile
at sodasoccer.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Fusheng 1953 births 2007 deaths People from Rizhao Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shandong China men's international footballers Bayi Football Team players 1976 AFC Asian Cup players 1980 AFC Asian Cup players Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in the People's Republic of China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games 20th-century Chinese sportsmen Asian Games bronze medalists in football