Yu Ziqian (, born 3 June 1985) is a Chinese former

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 ...

Club career

Yu Ziqian played for the Dalian Yiteng youth team before it was sold-off and then merged with

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 ...

's own youth team. At Dalian Shide, Yu was trained by former England international goalkeeper

Jimmy Rimmer John James Rimmer (born 10 February 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Manchester United, Swansea City, Arsenal and Aston Villa. Rimmer, who won two European Cup winners medals, has been ...

, however before he had a chance to establish himself within the team he was seriously injured in a training session where he received a ruptured spleen and one year out of football. Upon his return from injury Yu was allowed to join third-tier club Shanxi Wosen Luhu in the 2002 league campaign before he returned to Dalian Shide after they needed a third choice goalkeeper the following season. At the top-tier club he would have to wait to establish himself until on April 9, 2003, in a

2002–03 AFC Champions League The 2002–03 AFC Champions League was the twenty-second edition of Asia's premier football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and the first edition under the AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abb ...

semi-final match he was given his debut after the first choice goalkeeper

An Qi An Qi () (born 21 June 1981) is a Chinese former international association football goalkeeper. He represented Guangzhou Matsunichi, Dalian Shide, Dalian Changbo, Xiamen Blue Lions and Changchun Yatai while internationally he participated ...

was sent-off and Yu had to deputize as Dalian Shide lost to

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club (; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) is a professional Football team, football club based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi (emirate), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many sport sections of ...

4–2. After making very little progress at Dalian Shide he was sold to top-tier club

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 ...

for 1.5 million Yuan and was expected to fight for the goalkeeping position against Liu Zhenli. After spending two seasons at the club Yu, however was unable to make the position his and he was allowed to leave for third-tier club

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club (), known as Dalian Pro, was a Chinese professional Association football, football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, which mostly competed in the Chinese Super League. Dalian Pro played its home matches at various ...

. The move would be a huge success and he would go on to win not only the successive league titles but promotion to the top tier of Chinese football, 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 ...

. At the beginning of the 2012 season Yu was even named vice-captain, however after a series of bad performance culminating in a 5-2 league defeat to

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 ...

on July 28, 2012, Yu was dropped from the team. In February 2015, Yu returned to

. On 9 July 2020, Yu announced his retirement.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2019.''

Honours

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

China League Two The Chinese Football League 2 (), or China League Two, is the third-tier association football league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association and operated by the Chinese Professional ...

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 ...

Qingdao Hainiu *

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 ...

References

External links

*
Player profile
at Sodasoccer.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Ziqian 1985 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Dalian Dalian Shide F.C. players Qingdao Hainiu F.C. players Qingdao F.C. players Dalian Professional F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Men's association football goalkeepers