Liu Yunfei (; born 8 May 1979) is 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 goalkeeper who currently plays for Shaanxi Warriors Beyond. Internationally he played within the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

; however, at the height of his career he was disciplined by his club for his

recreational drug use Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an Sub ...

before being arrested for possessing illegal drugs, which saw him retire in 2007 at the age of only 27. On April 15, 2021, Liu decided to return to the field aged 42.

Biography

Liu started his career playing for the

Tianjin Teda Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (), previously Tianjin TEDA (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Tianjin, that competes in . Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at the TEDA Soccer Stadium, located within Binhai. The f ...

youth team and was soon called up to the Chinese U-23 team, where he competed with his Tianjin teammate

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 ...

for the first-choice goalkeeping spot. After returning from national duty, his development soon saw him replace

Jiang Jin Jiang Jin (; born October 17, 1968, in Tianjin) is a former Chinese international football goalkeeper. He was the first-choice goalkeeper for China during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Along with his older brother Jiang Hong he also became a goalk ...

as the club's first-choice goalkeeper within the

2001 Chinese Jia-A League The 2001 Chinese Jia-A League season is the eighth season of professional association football and the 40th top-tier overall league season in China. The league started on March 11 and ended on December 16, 2001 with Dalian Shide retaining the cham ...

season after he made 19 league appearances for the club. His breakout season saw him personally win the Jia A goalkeeper of the year award in 2001, while Jiang Jin decided to move to

Shanghai Zhongyuan Beijing Chengfeng Football Club ( zh, s=北京橙丰, t=北京橙丰, p=Běijīng Chéngfēng) was a professional Chinese Association football, football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Footbal ...

in 2002. Liu was soon called up to Chinese senior team on February 15, 2002 by the Chinese Head coach

Bora Milutinović Velibor "Bora" Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велибор Бора Милутиновић; born 7 September 1944) is a Serbian former professional footballer and manager. He has managed at five editions of the FIFA World Cup, tied for the record al ...

in a friendly against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in a 0-0 draw. While he missed out on the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, Liu soon went on to establish himself as his country's first-choice goalkeeper once

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

became manager for China, and once the

came around, Liu became the hero in the semi-final

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

as China won 4-3 on penalties. Liu transferred to top tier side

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

in 2006, where his teammate in the national team

Yu Weiliang Yu Weiliang ( zh, s=虞伟亮, t=, p=; born 17 September 1973) is a former Chinese footballer who played as a goalkeeper for the China national football team The China national football team ( zh, s=中国国家足球队, t=中國國家足 ...

was a starter goalkeeper. He started a few games, but was suspended later for discipline problems thought to be brought about by his recreational drug use. After he stopped training Liu soon became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

after the contract with Shanghai Shenhua was terminated. In March 2007, Liu was arrested for possessing illegal drugs, so he retired at only age 27.Police confirm ex-China goalie detained for drug use
at chinaview.cn 2007-03-27

References

External links

Player profile
at Sina {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yunfei 1979 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Tianjin China men's international footballers 21st-century Chinese sportsmen 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Shaanxi Warriors Beyond F.C. players Chinese Super League players Men's association football goalkeepers