Zhang Lu ( zh, s=张璐, p=Zhāng Lù; ; born August 23, 1987) is a Chinese former

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 as a

right 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. ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

and

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 ...

. At Henan he helped guide the club to their first ever qualification for the

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) 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 cl ...

. Within the

2010 AFC Champions League The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

tournament he would play in all their six games and scored the clubs first continental goal against

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

on 10 March 2010 in a 1-1 draw. He would move to Shenhua where he would win two

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

's.

Club career

Zhang Lu would start his professional football career with

in the 2006 league season and was part of the squad that won the division title and promotion to the top tier. He would make his first

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 ...

appearance on 29 April 2007 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 ...

in a 2–1 victory. During the season he would become a squad regular within the team and go on to score his first goal on 15 September 2007 in this time a 3–1 defeat to Dalian Shide. In the following seasons he would establish himself as a vital member within the squad and helped guide the club to their first ever qualification in the

. Within the

he would play in all six games and scored one goal against

on 10 March 2010 in a 1–1 draw as Henan were knocked out in the group stages. Unfortunately the club were unable to repeat their achievements in reaching the continental competition and instead soon found themselves relegated at the end of the 2012 league season. Zhang would remain with the club and was part the team that immediately helped win the division title and promotion back into the top tier the following season. On 30 December 2014, Zhang transferred to Chinese Super League side

. The head coach at Shenhua, Francis Gillot, would convert Zhang from a right winger to a right-back at the beginning of the season and he would play his first game in this position on 8 March 2015 in a league game against Shanghai Shenxin F.C. that ended in a 6–2 victory. The move in position would see Zhang establish himself as a regular within the team and a call-up to the Chinese national team for the first time. He would go on to win his first piece of silverware with the club with the 2017 Chinese FA Cup. This would be followed by another piece of silverware with the 2019 Chinese FA Cup. He would go on to be a squad player until his contract expired and he retired on 1 February 2023.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 January 2023''.

Honours

Club

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 ...

: 2006,

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 ...

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

*
Player profile
at sodasoccer.com
Player stats
at sohu.com 1987 births Living people People from Xinxiang Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Henan Henan F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Men's association football midfielders {{PRChina-footy-midfielder-stub