Sun Jihai

Sun Jihai 孙继海
Personal information
Date of birth	September 30 1977 (1977-09-30) (age 30)
Place of birth	Dalian, China
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	17
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995-1998 1998-1999 1999-2002 2002-	Dalian Wanda Crystal Palace Dalian Shide Manchester City	071 (1) 023 (0) 052 (6) 116 (3)
National team2
1996-	China	066 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 27 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Sun.

Sun Jihai (Simplified Chinese: 孙继海) (born September 30, 1977 in Dalian, China) is a Chinese football player who currently plays for Manchester City as a defender and for the China national football team as a midfielder. Sun's main strengths are his speed, physical strength, crossing and attacking forays down the wings. He is a highly versatile player, having played on both wings, central defense, holding midfielder. Sun is a valuable utility player in Manchester City and one of the most important players in the China national team.

Professional career

Sun started his professional career with Dalian Wanda in 1995 and made his first appearance on May 28, 1995. After three successful years at Dalian, Sun along with Fan Zhiyi signed for Crystal Palace in 1998. They became the first Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues. Sun made his debut for Crystal Palace in a 0-3 defeat at Bury in the first leg of the Football League Cup match. In 2002, Sun signed for Manchester City from Dalian for £2,000,000. He made his City debut in a 4-2 win over Coventry City. In October 2002, Sun became the first Chinese footballer to score in the Premier League when he headed home the first City goal in their 2-0 win over Birmingham City. At the beginning of the 2004/2005 season, Sun damaged his cruciate ligaments in a tackle with Chelsea striker Eiður Guðjohnsen and missed the rest of the season. After recuperating and following a strict physical regimen devised by his father, Sun Jihai is now a regular starter in the Man City line up. Sun's 2006/2007 season was set back yet again by another injury, however he finally made his return on February 10, 2007 against Portsmouth which Man City lost 2 - 1. With the arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson, Sun Jihai rarely plays in the 2007/2008 season. He has been replaced by Vedran Corluka on the right back position and Michael Ball plays as the defensive substitute instead of him.

National Team

Sun made his international debut for China on December 6, 1996 against Uzbekistan. At China's first match during the 2002 FIFA World Cup against Costa Rica, Sun picked up an ankle injury after a wild lunge from behind by Costa Rican defender, Mauricio Solís after just 17 minutes. Solis received a yellow card from Greek referee Kyros Vassaras for the tackle, but may have merited a red card due to its force and severity of Sun's injury. Similar tackles were performed by João Pinto and Beto of Portugal against Park Ji-Sung and Lee Young-Pyo, respectively, of South Korea during the last match of their group. João Pinto and Beto were immediately sent off due to these offenses. Unable to play, Sun was replaced after 25 minutes and sat out for the rest of China's matches. Such was Sun's importance that some critics have labeled his loss a detriment to China's performance.

Club Career Stats

Last update: 11 July 2007

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
1995	Dalian Wanda	China PR	1	13	0
1996	Dalian Wanda	China PR	1	21	0
1997	Dalian Wanda	China PR	1	19	0
1998	Dalian Wanda	China PR	1	18	1
98/99	Crystal Palace	England	2	23	0
1999	Dalian Shide	China PR	1	8	1
2000	Dalian Shide	China PR	1	21	2
2001	Dalian Shide	China PR	1	23	3
01/02	Manchester City	England	2	7	0
02/03	Manchester City	England	1	28	2
03/04	Manchester City	England	1	33	1
04/05	Manchester City	England	1	6	0
05/06	Manchester City	England	1	29	0
06/07	Manchester City	England	1	13	0
07/08	Manchester City	England	1

External links

• Sun Jihai career stats at Soccerbase

•  • e China squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 An Qi • 2 Zhang Enhua • 3 Yang Pu • 4 Wu Chengying • 5 Fan Zhiyi • 6 Shao Jiayi • 7 Sun Jihai • 8 Li Tie • 9 Ma Mingyu • 10 Hao Haidong • 11 Yu Genwei • 12 Su Maozhen • 13 Gao Yao • 14 Li Weifeng • 15 Zhao Junzhe • 16 Qu Bo • 17 Du Wei • 18 Li Xiaopeng • 19 Qi Hong • 20 Yang Chen • 21 Xu Yunlong • 22 Jiang Jin • 23 Ou Chuliang • Coach: Milutinović