Yan Zihao (; born 18 January 1995) is a Chinese

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 played most recently as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

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 Guangdong GZ-Power.

Club career

Yan Zihao was selected to go to football training camps held in Portugal to help in his youth development, in a scheme that was sponsored by the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (), abbreviated as CFA (), is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams an ...

. His time in Portugal would see him join the senior team teams of lower league sides

Cova da Piedade Cova da Piedade () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Almada, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Almada, Cova da Piedade, Pragal e Cacilhas. The population in 2011 was 19,904, in an ar ...

and

Torreense Sport Clube União Torreense is a Portuguese sports club, best known for its association football section, founded in Torres Vedras in 1917, as Sport União Torreense. History It participated six times in the Portuguese Liga (last in 1991–92 ...

. On 1 February 2016, Yan would return to China with second-tier football club

Tianjin Quanjian Tianjin Tianhai F.C. (; ) was a Chinese football club. The team was based in Tianjin. History 2006-2010: Formation and League Two On June 6, 2006, the Tianjin Binhai Holdings Limited company would form a new football team based in Hohhot called ...

for the start of the

2016 China League One The 2016 China League One () was the 13th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. The league's title sponsor is the e-commerce website 58.com. Teams A total of 1 ...

season. He would make his debut on 8 May 2016 in a league game against

Qingdao Jonoon Qingdao Hainiu Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Qingdao, Shandong, that competes in . Qingdao Hainiu plays its home matches at the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, located within Chengyang District. Their curren ...

in a 3–2 victory where he came on as a substitute for Wang Jie. After the game he would start to become a regular within the team and help them win the division title and promotion to the top tier. The following season saw the club bring in experienced left-back Mi Haolun, which saw Yan lose his place within the team and he was loaned out to third-tier club Jiangsu Yancheng in the 2018 league season. On 15 July 2020 Tianjin was dissolved due the owners financial irregularities. Yan would be free to join top-tier club Qingdao Huanghai on a free transfer on 8 April 2021. He would make his debut in a league game on 25 July 2021 against Wuhan Zall in a 2–0 defeat. After establishing himself as squad player he would leave the club to join another top-tier club in Cangzhou Mighty Lions on 8 April 2021. Yan would make his debut for the club in a league game on 27 April 2021 against Henan Songshan Longmen F.C. in a 0–0 draw.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Tianjin Quanjian F.C. *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Zihao 1995 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Chinese expatriate men's footballers China men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato de Portugal (league) players China League One players Chinese Super League players China League Two players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen U.D. Oliveirense players Sporting CP footballers C.D. Cova da Piedade players S.C.U. Torreense players Tianjin Tianhai F.C. players Yancheng Luzhiying F.C. players Qingdao F.C. players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Guangdong GZ-Power F.C. players Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal