Zhang Xiaorui (; born March 5, 1976, in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of 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 ...

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and a former professional player. He used to play for

Tianjin Teda Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (), previously Tianjin TEDA (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Tianjin, that competes in . Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at the TEDA Soccer Stadium, located within Binhai. The f ...

Alemannia Aachen Aachener Turn- und Sportverein Alemannia 1900 e. V., short Alemannia Aachen (), is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long-term fixture of the country's second division, Alemannia enjoyed a three- ...

Shanghai Zobon Shanghai Zobon F.C. () is a defunct football club that predominantly competed in the China League One division. Originally founded by Zhu Jun, the CEO of The9 Limited as an undistinguished amateur club, it took over Shanghai Tianna to turn profe ...

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 ...

. His first management assignment was with third-tier club Tianjin Tuanbo New City where he was initially brought in as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

before leaving the club at the end of the 2009 Chinese league season.

Club career

Early career

As with all the most promising young Chinese players Zhang Xiaorui would quickly be included in the short-lived Chinese national youth team program to study football abroad in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

for a five-year training programme sponsored by

Jianlibao Jianlibao Group () is a soft drink producer based in Foshan, Guangdong, China which was established in 1984. In the 1990s, The Jianlibao drink was one of the best sellers in China, at par with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. However, poor management and sti ...

and called the Chinese Jianlibao Youth Football Team. After graduating through the Jianlibao Youth Team he would move to

Tianjin Teda F.C. Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (), previously Tianjin TEDA (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Tianjin, that competes in . Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at the TEDA Soccer Stadium, located within Binhai. The f ...

to start his professional football career. He would show his potential when he would quickly establish himself as an integral member of the team and would personally win the Young Player of the Year award at the end of the 1999 league season.

Alemannia Aachen

He would attract the interests of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

side

and play in the

2. Fußball-Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ; ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked belo ...

during 2001 as part of a loan deal. He, however found it difficult to establish himself within the team and would only make five league appearances before he returned to Tianjin Teda F.C. His return to China however saw his performances fluctuate due to injury the club allowed him to leave at the end of the 2004 league season.

Move to Shanghai

Attempting to resurrect his career he would join

in 2005 where he showed some of the skill and consistency that was missing from his performances. By his next season with the club he had become an integral member of the team (now known as

Shanghai United F.C. Shanghai United F.C () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, who last played in the 16,000 seater Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium in the Chinese Super League. The club was founded by Dalian Shide F.C. on 1 February 2000 and w ...

) and help them to a mid-table finish. The 2007 league season, however saw

merge with the club and Zhang Xiaorui would lose his place within the enlarged squad. In 2008, he was hired to be a

of Chinese Yi League club Tianjin Tuanbo New City, where he would gradually move away from playing before he would officially retire as a player in 2009.

International career

Zhang Xiaorui was part of the Jianlibao Youth and Chinese U-20 team that studied abroad and were fast-tracked by the Chinese Head coach

Qi Wusheng Qi Wusheng (; ; born 20 May 1944, in Weihai) is a Chinese football coach and a former international player. Playing career Despite being born in Shandong, Qi would go on to play for teams within Liaoning before he would be selected for the ...

who included him in the squad in a friendly against

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

on January 29, 1997, in a game that China won 2-1. After making his senior debut he would go on to play for the Chinese U-20 team that took part in the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 i ...

and once the tournament finished he was one of several players that would graduate from the Chinese Jianlibao Youth Football Team to the senior team along with

Li Jinyu Li Jinyu (; born 6 July 1977) is a Chinese former international football player who is currently the head coach of Liaoning Tieren. As a player he represented Liaoning Whowin and Shandong Luneng in the Chinese Super League and spent one seas ...

Li Tie Li Tie ( zh, s=李铁, t=李鐵, p=Lǐ Tiě; born 18 May 1977) is a Chinese former professional football coach and player. A defensive midfielder, he represented Liaoning in the Chinese Jia-A League, Everton in the Premier League, Sheffiel ...

and Sui Dongliang. He would go on to score his first goal against

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

in a friendly on March 3, 1997, in a 3–0 win. After playing in several

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

games he was dropped from the team after China did not qualify. After several years out being dropped from international football Zhang Xiaorui would return to the senior team when the new Chinese Head coach

Bora Milutinović Velibor "Bora" Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велибор Бора Милутиновић; born 7 September 1944) is a Serbian former professional footballer and manager. He has managed at five editions of the FIFA World Cup, tied for the record al ...

would include him in the squads that were playing friendlies in preparation for the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th 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 Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

, however once these ended the manager decided not to call him into the squad anymore.

Management career

In 2008 Zhang Xiaorui was hired to be a

of Chinese Yi League club Tianjin Tuanbo New City. In his first season, he would guide the team to a second-place finish in the Southern Group and a place in the play-offs where they were unable to win promotion. He was sacked on 10 March 2010, with Belgian manager Patrick De Wilde taking charge. In November 2010 Zhang would join Tianjin Runyulong as the club's General manager and oversaw the club's takeover of second-tier football club

Anhui Jiufang F.C. Anhui Jiufang Football Club () was a Chinese football club from Hefei, Anhui. The club was owned by Anhui Jiarun Group () with 15,000,000 RMB registered capital. At the end of the 2008 season, Anhui Jiufang qualified from China League Two (3rd ti ...

before leaving the club on January 5, 2012, to return to management with the Tianjin Teda U-19 team.

References

External links

Biography at Sina
(Chinese) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Xiaorui 1976 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Tianjin China men's international footballers Chinese football managers Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Chinese expatriate men's footballers Alemannia Aachen players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Tianjin Tianhai F.C. players