Zeng Cheng
Zeng Cheng (Chinese: 曾诚; pinyin: Zēng Chéng; born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zeng Cheng | ||
| Date of birth | 8 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Wuhan, Hubei, China | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Shanghai Shenhua | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2008 | Wuhan Guanggu | 21 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Persebaya Surabaya (loan) | 25 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Henan Jianye | 105 | (0) |
| 2013–2021 | Guangzhou | 161 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Shanghai Shenhua (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2021– | Shanghai Shenhua | 18 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009– | China | 42 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 January 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 October 2019 | |||
| Zeng Cheng | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 曾诚 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 曾誠 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
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 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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] 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 for the first time in the club's history.[4]
On 1 January 2013, along with Zhao Peng and Yi Teng, Zeng successfully transferred to two-time, back-to-back Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer.[5] During the 2013 season, Zeng established himself as Guangzhou's first-choice goalkeeper due to impressive displays which impressed manager Marcello Lippi. 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 AFC Champions League that season. On 9 November 2013, Zeng won the continental title with the club, winning the finals against FC Seoul 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 match against Iran, ruling him out for the rest of the 2016 season.[6] 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.[7]
International career
Zeng's performances for Henan Jianye at the beginning of the 2009 season would see the China national team manager Gao Hongbo call him up to the international set-up for the first time. He made his debut against Iran in a friendly which China won 1-0 on 1 June 2009.[8] 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 before being included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup squad.
Career statistics
Club statistics
- As of 31 January 2023.[9]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Persebaya (loan) | 2005 | Premier Division | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 6 | 0 | - | 31 | 0 | ||
| Wuhan Guanggu | 2005 | Chinese Super League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2006 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 13 | 0 | |||||
| 2007 | 7 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7 | 0 | ||||||
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Henan Jianye | 2009 | Chinese Super League | 29 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | 23 | 0 | - | - | 6 | 0 | - | 29 | 0 | |||||
| 2011 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 26 | 0 | |||||
| 2012 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 27 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 105 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 0 | ||
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 2013 | Chinese Super League | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | 14 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 10 | 0 | 0[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 11 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 37 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | - | 5 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 34 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 10 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 41 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 6 | 0 | 0[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 33 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 7 | 0 | - | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 161 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 241 | 0 | ||
| Shanghai Shenhua (loan) | 2020 | Chinese Super League | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 14 | 0 | ||
| Shanghai Shenhua | 2021 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | - | - | - | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2022 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 12 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 18 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 344 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 444 | 0 | ||
- One appearance in Chinese FA Super Cup, Two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
- Appearances in Chinese FA Super Cup
International statistics
| National team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2009 | 3 | 0 |
| 2010 | 6 | 0 |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 |
| 2014 | 5 | 0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 42 | 0 |
Honours
Club
Individual
- Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of the Year: 2013, 2015, 2016
- Chinese Super League Team of the Year: 2013, 2015, 2016
References
- "武汉青年军客场爆冷 申花战平黑马夺取亚军 评". sports.sohu.com. 5 November 2005. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- "Wuhan ejected from soccer league – People's Daily Online". English.people.com.cn. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- "内托奥利萨德贝轰双响炮 中超揭幕战河南2–1广州". sports.sina.com.cn. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- "China 2009". RSSSF. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- "曾诚、赵鹏、弋腾正式加盟广州恒大". gzevergrandefc.com. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- "重伤！曾诚韧带断裂赛季报销 康复时间6-8个月". Sohu. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- "2016中超颁奖：高拉特金球金靴 恒大狂揽九奖项". Sohu. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- "郜林补射绝杀高家军迎来首胜 中国队1–0胜伊朗". teamchina.sports.sohu.com. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- "曾诚". sodasoccer (in Chinese). Archived 2018-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Zeng Cheng at National-Football-Teams.com
- Zeng Cheng at Soccerway
- Player stats at sohu.com
- Squad profile at Henan Construction website
China Squads | |||||||||||||
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