China News Service, Beijing, April 8 (Reporter Bian Liqun) On the evening of the 7th, the Chinese League One team Liaoning Ironman announced that Gao Mingqi will no longer serve as the team's head coach and the coaching staff will be reorganized.
According to other reporters, Chinese football star Fan Zhiyi will come out and may serve as the head of the coaching staff of the Liaoning Ironman Team. In the league last weekend, Fan Zhiyi appeared at the Liaoning Ironman's home court.
Data map: Fan Zhiyi. Image source: Visual China
As the former captain of the national football team and a defender, Fan Zhiyi had a brilliant career as a player. He played 110 games for the national football team and scored 17 goals.
In 2001, it was in Shenyang, Liaoning, that Fan Zhiyi, who served as the starting central defender, helped the national football team defeat Oman 1:0 and win a ticket to the World Cup finals for the first time in history. In that year, he also became the first Chinese player to win the Asian Footballer of the Year award.
On the club side, Fan Zhiyi once played for Shanghai Shenhua and won the League A championship and top scorer honors. He also studied abroad in England to join the Crystal Palace team and served as the captain of the team.
Data map: Fan Zhiyi takes a photo with the Village Super League team. Photo by Qu Honglun
After retiring and transforming into a coach, Fan Zhiyi did not have much coaching experience in the past. In 2007, he served as the technical director of the Chinese League Two team Suzhou Qupus. In 2009, Fan Zhiyi served as the head coach of the Shanghai East Asia Youth Team and led the Shanghai U16 team to participate in the Men's Football Group B competition of the 11th National Games and reach the quarterfinals.
In January 2010, Fan Zhiyi became the head coach of Shanghai East Asia and led the team to compete in the Chinese League One. He resigned after the season.
In recent years, Fan Zhiyi left the most profound impression on the outside world. After the national football team lost 1:5 to Thailand in an international friendly match at home in 2013, he angrily said in an interview: "We will lose to Vietnam next, and then we will lose to Myanmar. No one loses next..."
In the TV series "Flowers" that became a hit at the beginning of this year, Fan Zhiyi guest-starred as factory boss Fan, and he did not fall behind when acting opposite a group of actors with professional backgrounds.
However, when Fan Zhiyi became popular in the entertainment industry, he had been away from the first team of a professional football club for a long time and was connected with the Chinese League One team Liaoning Ironmen.
So far this season, the Liaoning Ironmen have 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses, temporarily ranking 11th in the Chinese League One. In the league last weekend, Liaoning Ironman defeated Suzhou Soochow 2-0 at home and just won their first win of the season. This year, Liaoning Ironman has set a goal of "surpassing". (over)