Du Wei (footballer)

Du Wei
杜威

Personal information
Date of birth	9 February 1982 (1982-02-09) (age 29)
Place of birth	Luoyang, Henan, China
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Hangzhou Greentown
Number	5
Youth career
1995–1999	Shanghai Cable 02
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000-2001	Shanghai Cable 02
2002–2010	Shanghai Shenhua	139	(9)
2005–2006	→ Celtic F.C. (loan)	0	(0)
2010–	Hangzhou Greentown	27	(3)
National team‡
2000–2001	China U-20
2002–2003	China U-23
2001–	China	53	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

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

Du Wei (Chinese: 杜威; pinyin: Dù Wēi; born February 9, 1982 in Luoyang, Henan) is a Chinese football player who currently captains Hangzhou Greentown in the Chinese Super League. He is also the current captain of the Chinese football team and was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Du Wei started his football career playing for Shanghai Cable 02 before the club were taken over by Shanghai Shenhua in 2002 where he was able to play in central defence or defensive midfield. He would immediately command a regular position within the team and by his second season with Shanghai Shenhua he would win the last Chinese Jia-A League league title in 2003 before it was renamed as the Chinese Super League.^[1] The following season, however saw him miss much of it through injury and the team would dramatically miss his services, finishing tenth within the league.^[2]

When he returned from injury his impressive displays for Shenhua would see Scottish club Celtic F.C. interested in him and his agent Edmund Chu, president of RAMP Management Group would oversee his move to the Scottish Premier League at the 2005-06 season, on a 6-month short term contract, which was hoped to lead to a long term contract. At Celtic he would make several appearances on the bench before he would finally make his debut in the Scottish Cup third round tie against Clyde on 9 January 2006 in a shock 2-1 defeat.^[3] His uninspiring first team debut saw him substituted at half time by Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, with his display seeing him being outplayed by the opposition. After that display he was dropped from the team and his loan was cut short with him returning to Shanghai.^[4]

Back at Shanghai Shenhua he would continue to command a regular starting place within the team and would eventually become the teams captain by the 2008 league season. On March 10, 2010, Hangzhou Greentown announed that Du joined them from Shanghai Shenhua, and he will keep wearing No. 5 for the following season.^[5] He would also be named as the clubs captain and would immediately settle in the teams defence where he was partnered with his previous team mate from Shenhua, Ng Wai Chiu and help guide the club to their best ever league position of fourth and a chance to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time.^[6]

International career

He was a former captain of China's U-23 Football Team and China's Olympic Team in 2004 where he was highly praised as the future Fan Zhiyi. He was described by Maradona - who watched him in action at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina - as having unparalleled speed and a keen sense of how to defend.^[7] He would then rapidly rise through the Chinese youth teams to graduate into the senior Chinese national team when he made his debut against Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly on August 5, 2001 in a game that China won 3-0.^[8] This led to several further games and despite his lack of experience he was called up into the squad that played at the 2002 World Cup.^[9][10] Due to injury he was dropped from the national team in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup that reached the final where Arie Haan preferred to play Zheng Zhi in defence.^[11] Du Wei was able to regain his position within the national team after the tournament and was recalled for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup squad. When Gao Hongbo became the new Chinese Head coach he chose Du Wei as his captain and he led China to win the 2010 East Asian Football Championship.

Career statistics

Club Career Stats

Correct as of 6 November 2010

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
2000	Shanghai Cable 02	China	3	?	?
2001	Shanghai Cable 02	China	-	-	-
2002	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	24	0
2003	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	23	1
2004	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	14	1
2005	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	17	1
2005/06	Celtic	Scotland	SPL	0	0
2006	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	19	2
2007	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	15	1
2008	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	28	3
2009	Shanghai Shenhua	China	1	20	3
2010	Hangzhou Greentown F.C.	China	1	27	3

International goals

Results list China's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	February 22, 2006	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou	Palestine	1-0	2-0	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2	January 21, 2009	Yellow Dragon Sports Center, Hangzhou	Vietnam	3-1	6-1	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3	November 22, 2009	Yellow Dragon Sports Center, Hangzhou	Lebanon	1-0	1-0	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	December 18, 2010	Zhuhai Sports Center, Zhuhai	Estonia	1-0	3-0	Friendly match

Honours

Club

Shanghai Shenhua

• A3 Champions Cup: 2007
• Chinese Jia-A League: 2003

Country

• East Asian Football Championship: 2010

Individual

• Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 2001
• 2010 East Asian Football Championship Most Valuable Player

References

1. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china03.html
2. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china04.html
3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/4584934.stm
4. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/4620176.stm
5. ^ http://www.greentownfc.com/html/news.html?news/zuixinzixun/74816095406144.html
6. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china2010.html
7. ^ http://www.chinasuperleague.com/teamchina_wc2002.htm
8. ^ http://teamchina.freehostia.com/en/match.php?date=2001-08-05
9. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/results/matches/match=43950026/report.html
10. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/results/matches/match=43950042/report.html
11. ^ http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_74669.html

External links

• Player stats at Fifa website
• 2002 China Team Player Profile at BBC website
• Player Profile at national-football-teams.com
• Player stats at sohu.com
• Player stats at football-lineups website
• Profile at Celtic site

Sporting positions
Preceded by Yu Weiliang	Shanghai Shenhua F.C. captain 2004–2005	Succeeded by Xiao Zhanbo
Preceded by Li Weifeng & Jiang Kun	Shanghai Shenhua F.C. captain 2008–2009	Succeeded by Cheng Liang
Preceded by Zheng Zhi	China national football team captain 2008–2011	Succeeded by Zheng Zhi
Preceded by Ng Wai Chiu	Hangzhou Nabel Greentown F.C. captain 2010–	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Du, Wei
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 9, 1982
Place of birth	Luoyang, Henan, China
Date of death
Place of death