Sun Jihai

Sun Jihai (Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 30 September 1977) is a Chinese former footballer who played in the English Premier League.

Sun Jihai started his football career with Dalian Shide in 1995 and made his first appearance on 28 May 1995 against Sichuan Quanxing.

Like many of the top young Chinese players of his generation, he wanted to go to the Chinese youth training camp in Brazil that was sponsored by Jianlibao.

However, he was not selected as he was not deemed to possess enough potential.

Sun showed great character by not letting this huge disappointment derail him and worked very hard to establish himself at his club.

Sun enjoyed a successful spell with Dalian as the club won four league titles and one Chinese FA Cup title during his time there.

After three successful years at Dalian Shide, Sun along with Fan Zhiyi signed for Crystal Palace in August 1998.

They became the first ever Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues.

Sun made his debut for Crystal Palace in a 3–0 loss against Bury in the first leg of a 1998–99 Football League Cup match.

He was recalled by Dalian who struggled heavily at the bottom of the league in the 1999 season.

Sun is one of the most well-known footballers in East Asia, as he is the first East Asian footballer to score in the Premier League when he scored a goal for Manchester City in October 2002, and also the first Chinese footballer to score in the UEFA Cup.

Sun was a member of the Chinese national team that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the country's only appearance at the World Cup finals.

In February 2002, Sun signed for English side Manchester City from Dalian Shide for £2 million and became the first Asian player to sign for the club.

He made his debut for the club in a 4–2 win against Coventry City.

His solid defence and dangerous attacking forays won over many City fans.

He was voted the best player for the club in September 2002.

In October 2002, Sun became the first East Asian footballer to score in the Premier League when he headed home the first goal in a 2–0 win over Birmingham City.

At the beginning of the 2004–05 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 re-installed his place as a regular in the club's starting lineup.

In the 2006–07 season, Sun was set back yet again by another injury and he made his return on 10 February 2007, against Portsmouth which his side lost 2–1.

With the arrival of Sven-Göran Eriksson as the new manager, Sun rarely played in the 2007–08 season.

Sun played 14 games and only started 7 times in that season.

He was replaced by Vedran Ćorluka at right back and Michael Ball played as the defensive substitute instead of Sun.

On 2 July 2008, Sun signed a two-year deal with English Championship club Sheffield United.

Sun only managed nineteen minutes in his first match for Sheffield United, getting sent off after picking up two yellows in a friendly.

He went on to make his full debut in the opening fixture of the 2008–09 season against Birmingham City.

He was sent off during a game against Coventry City after a lunging tackle from behind on opposing player Michael Mifsud.

The Football Association charged him for his behavior after receiving a red card even with his past good disciplinary record and handed him an additional one-match ban.

Having played regularly until November he succumbed to an injury and subsequently failed to force his way back into the first team and made only a handful of appearances in the FA Cup in the second half of the season.

Sun was then released from his contract in July 2009 with Sheffield United claiming he had "failed to settle" in Yorkshire.

In July 2009, Sun was loaned to Sheffield United's satellite team Chengdu Blades in the Chinese Super League, hoping to make an impact.

He steadily established himself at Chengdu and helped them to achieve the club's best ever league position at seventh place.

However, the club was relegated to China League One in the fallout of a match fixing scandal.

He returned to Sheffield United after the loan was finished, but his contract ended and was left without a club to play for.

On 8 January 2010, Sun signed a two-year contract with fellow top tier side Shaanxi Chanba.

He was promoted as the team captain immediately and he extended his contract for another two years in December 2011.

Sun founded Beijing Haiqiu Technology Company (HQ Sports) in February 2016, while he still played for Beijing Renhe in the China League One division.

Subsequently, in December of the same year, Sun ended his 22 years of professional football career by announcing his official retirement in a public event.

Also at the same occasion, Sun announced the successful first round funding of his company, led by China Media Capital (CMC), Tencent and Yuan Xun Fund.

HQ Sports has now developed to a staff force of more than 100 and with focus on Sports Technology, Media and Datatainment business in China and Worldwide.