Yu Tao (; born October 15, 1981, in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

) 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 ...

former international football player as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Yu Tao began his football career playing for

Shanghai 02 Shanghai 02 F.C. is a defunct Chinese football club that was based in Shanghai, China. History The club was founded by Xu Genbao in 1995 and was aimed at developing football talents for the participation of the 2002 World Cup, from which the c ...

before the club was taken over by

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 ...

and he was promoted to their senior side at the beginning of the 2002 league season, where he made twenty four league games and would score four goals. By the following season, he would become an integral member of the Shenhua team due to his ability to play in numerous positions in the midfield and would help them to win the league 2003 league title. Unfortunately in 2013 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 ...

would revoke the league title after it was discovered the Shenhua General manager Lou Shifang had bribed officials to be bias to Shenhua in games that season. Despite several changes in management and the influx of players from the Shanghai United merger, Yu Tao has been a constant regular for Shanghai Shenhua throughout his career. By the 2010 league season his loyalty towards Shanghai would be rewarded when he was named the club's captain and on May 8, 2010, in a league game against

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

, he would become the club's most capped player when he made his one hundred and eighty sixth league appearance for the club. This was soon followed by him also reaching 200 league appearances for the club on August 29, 2010, in a league game against

Dalian Shide Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...

, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 20 December 2012, Yu moved to

Shanghai Shenxin Shanghai Shenxin Football Club () was a professional football club that participated in China's football league system between 2003 and 2019 under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Jinshan District, Shangha ...

on a free transfer, he signed a three-year deal with Shenxin. On 23 December 2015, Yu 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

Beijing Enterprises Group Beijing Sport University Football Club (), commonly known as BSU (), was a Chinese professional football club that participated in the China League One division under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Beij ...

on a free transfer.

International career

Yu Tao would be called up into the Chinese managers

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 ...

's first game against

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in a friendly on 7 December 2002 in a 3–1 win. After that game, he would become an irregular member for the national team, but this would not be enough to make the squad for 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. ...

. After several years in the international wilderness, the next Chinese manager

Zhu Guanghu Zhu Guanghu (; born 25 September 1949, in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese football coach and a former player. As a player, he was predominantly remembered for his time at Shanghai Football Team before going into management where he started of ...

would call him up for a friendly against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on February 7, 2007, in a 2–1 victory. In preparation for the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

, Zhu Guanghu included Yu Tao in several further squads but decided not in include him for the final tournament. The introduction of

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 ...

as the Chinese manager that saw Yu Tao given his chance of a competitive tournament when he was called him up 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 ...

Honours

Shanghai Shenhua *

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 ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

(revoked due to match-fixing scandal)

References

External links

Player Profile
at Shanghai Shenhua website
Player Profile
at Football-lineups website

at Sodasoccer.com * *
Player stats
at Sohu.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Tao 1981 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shanghai China men's international footballers 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Shanghai Shenxin F.C. players Beijing Sport University F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for China