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.

Zeng Cheng
曾诚
Personal information
Full name Zeng Cheng
Date of birth (1987-01-08) 8 January 1987 (age 37)
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)
2005Persebaya Surabaya (loan) 25 (0)
2009–2012 Henan Jianye 105 (0)
2013–2020 Guangzhou Evergrande 161 (0)
2020Shanghai Shenhua (loan) 14 (0)
2021– Shanghai Shenhua 18 (0)
International career
2009–2018 China 42 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 October 2019
Zeng Cheng
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZēng Chéng
IPA[tsə́ŋ ʈʂʰə̌ŋ]

Club career

edit

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

edit

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

edit

Club statistics

edit
As of 4 November 2023[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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[a] 0 48 0
2014 26 0 0 0 - 10 0 0[b] 0 36 0
2015 25 0 0 0 - 11 0 1[b] 0 37 0
2016 23 0 5 0 - 5 0 1[b] 0 34 0
2017 29 0 1 0 - 10 0 1[b] 0 41 0
2018 27 0 0 0 - 6 0 0[b] 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
2023 0 0 0 0 - - - 0 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
  1. ^ One appearance in Chinese FA Super Cup, Two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearances in Chinese FA Super Cup

International statistics

edit
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

edit

Club

edit

Wuhan Guanggu

Guangzhou Evergrande

International

edit

China PR national football team

Individual

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "Wuhan ejected from soccer league – People's Daily Online". English.people.com.cn. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "China 2009". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "曾诚". sodasoccer (in Chinese). Archived 2018-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
edit