Zeng Cheng (; born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.

Club career

Zeng Cheng started his football career at top tier side Wuhan Guanggu; however, he was soon loaned out to Indonesia Super League side

Persebaya Persatuan Sepakbola Surabaya ( 'Football Association of Surabaya'), commonly known as Persebaya Surabaya or simply Persebaya, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Surabaya, East Java. It currently plays in the Liga 1, the top fl ...

for more playing time at the beginning of the 2005 season. On his return to Wuhan, he would be allowed to make his league debut at the end of the league season on 5 November 2005 in a 1-1 draw against Shanghai Shenhua. For several seasons, Zeng would play understudy to Deng Xiaofei until Wuhan quit the league and were subsequently relegated in the 2008 season after the club's management did not accept the punishment given to them by the Chinese Football Association after a scuffle broke out during a league game against Beijing Guoan on 27 September 2008. At the beginning of the 2009 season, Zeng transferred to another top tier side Henan Jianye where he established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Zhou Yajun. The move turned out to be a big success and the club would finish in it highest ever position of third place in the league and qualify for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

for the first time in the club's history. On 1 January 2013, along with

Zhao Peng Zhao Peng (; born 20 June 1983) is a retired Chinese footballer. Club career Zhao Peng rose to prominence when he was part of the team that helped Henan Jianye win promotion to the Chinese Super League after winning the second tier. The follow ...

and Yi Teng, Zeng successfully transferred to two-time, back-to-back Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer. During the 2013 season, Zeng established himself as Guangzhou's first-choice goalkeeper due to impressive displays which impressed manager

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and 2 ...

. At the end of the season, Lippi credited Zeng as "one of Guangzhou's best buys." Zeng finished the 2013 season only conceding 16 goals and kept 13 clean sheets in 27 matches in the league. He was an important cog in what was considered absolute dominance by Guangzhou during the group and knockout stages of the

that season. On 9 November 2013, Zeng won the continental title with the club, winning the finals against

FC Seoul FC Seoul ( ko, FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS Group. They play their home ga ...

in a two-legged tie which ended with them winning on away goals. On 6 September 2016, Zeng suffered a rupture of posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

match against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

, ruling him out for the rest of the 2016 season. He played 23 league matches and kept 10 clean sheets in the 2016 season as he was awarded with the Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of The Year award for the third time in November 2016.

International career

Zeng's performances for Henan Jianye at the beginning of the 2009 season would see the Chinese national team manager Gao Hongbo call him up to the international set-up for the first time. He made his debut against

in a friendly which China won 1-0 on 1 June 2009. After that game, he would become the national team's second choice goalkeeper behind Yang Zhi and be included in the squad that won the

2010 East Asian Football Championship The 2010 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was the fourth edition of the tournament which was held between 6 and 14 February 2010. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2009. Participating teams Preliminary Round 1 * * * * Round 2 ...

before being included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup squad.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

Honours

Club

Wuhan Guanggu *

Chinese Super League Cup The Chinese Super League Cup () was a association football, football tournament in China held for two years from 2004 until 2005. History Chinese Super League Cup was established in the inaugural season of the Chinese Super League (CSL) as a sup ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Guangzhou Evergrande * Chinese Super League:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015, 2016,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 2015 * Chinese FA Cup: 2016 * Chinese FA Super Cup: 2016,

, 2018

International

China PR national football team *

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

: 2010

Individual

* Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of the Year:

, 2015, 2016 * Chinese Super League Team of the Year:

, 2015, 2016

References

External links

* *
Player stats at sohu.comSquad profile at Henan Construction website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeng, Cheng 1987 births Living people Footballers from Wuhan Association football goalkeepers Chinese footballers China international footballers Chinese expatriate footballers Wuhan Guanggu players Persebaya Surabaya players Chinese Super League players Henan Songshan Longmen F.C. players Guangzhou F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Indonesia Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players