Gong Lei (footballer)

Gong Lei (Chinese: 宫磊) (born 15 October 1965) is a Chinese football manager and former player as well as media pundit.

Gong Lei
宫磊
Personal information
Full name Gong Lei
Date of birth (1965-10-15) 15 October 1965
Place of birth Beijing, China
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1980–1983 Beijing Team
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1989 Beijing Team
1990–1996 AS Pirae
1997 Toronto Lynx 22 (2)
1997–1998 South China
1998 Toronto Olympians 14 (17)
1999–2001 Beijing Kuanli
National team
1983–1986 China U-20 4 (2)
Teams managed
2003 Gansu Tianma
2007–2009 Shaanxi Chanba (assistant)
2009 Shaanxi Zhongjian (caretaker)
2010–2012 Guizhou Renhe (assistant)
2012–2014 Guizhou Renhe (caretaker)
2015 Guizhou Renhe
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player he represented Beijing Team, AS Pirae, Toronto Lynx, South China, Toronto Olympians and Beijing Kuanli before he retired and moved into coaching. His first coaching position would be with Gansu Tianma F.C. where he had a short spell with them before becoming an assistant at Shaanxi Zhongjian.[1] He would manage Chinese Super League side Guizhou Renhe where he won the 2013 Chinese FA Cup.

Playing career

As a youth player Gong Lei was considered a promising youngster and was part of the Beijing Football Team that won the 1984 Chinese Jia-A League title.[2] This soon saw him called up to the Chinese U-20 team squad that took part in the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship, where China were knocked out in the quarter-finals on 1 September 1985 by the Soviet Union.[3] After several seasons with Beijing, Gong then went abroad to Tahiti and joined AS Pirae, where he experienced significant success by winning several league and cup titles with them.He was nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993 and is the only Chinese football player to be nominated for this award. Nearing the end of his career, he then spent a short time with Canadian club Toronto Lynx, Hong Kong team South China, Toronto Olympians and Beijing Kuanli before he retired.

Managerial career

Gong became a football commentator and pundit in 2002, providing analysis to CCTV sports channel for La Liga before he gained his first Head coaching position with second tier Chinese club Gansu Tianma F.C. before the start of the 2003 league season. The club had high expectations for the season after they brought in English international Paul Gascoigne into the team, however Gong lost his influential marquee player after the club's owners had a dispute with the player over wages.[4] This saw results decline and the club's owners decided to move to Ningbo, rename themselves Ningbo Yaoma while ending the campaign in a disappointing 11th-place finish before Gong left the team.[5]

After several years out of management Gong returned as an assistant coach to top tier club Shaanxi Chanba in 2007 before becoming the caretaker manager after the club's manager Cheng Yaodong resigned from the team.[6] Gong's return to Head coaching was brief and Zhu Guanghu was soon brought in while he returned to his assistant duties. Gong would work with several further managers and stayed with the club as they moved to Guizhou and renamed themselves Guizhou Renhe before the owners asked him to be the caretaker manager once again while the club looked for a new manager before the start of the 2013 league campaign. The club did not bring anyone in before the start of the season and results under Gong improved over the course of the campaign, which resulted him guiding the club to their first ever Chinese FA Cup when they beat Guangzhou Evergrande F.C. in the 2013 Chinese FA Cup final.[7]

On 3 June 2016, Gong Lei was named as vice-president of Suning Sports[8] which its parent company, Suning Holdings Group, acquired a controlling stake in Inter Milan.[9]

Honours

Player

Club

Beijing Team

AS Pirae

  • Tahiti Division Fédérale: 1991, 1993, 1994
  • Tahiti Coupe des: 1996
  • Tahiti Cup: 1994, 1996
  • Coupe de Polynésie: 1994, 1996

Toronto Olympians

  • Open Canada Cup: 1998
  • Canadian Professional Soccer League Regular Season: 1998

International

China U-20 national football team

Individual
  • Tahiti Division Fédérale Golden Boot awardee: 1994, 1995
  • Tahiti Division Fédérale Player of the Year: 1994, 1995

Manager

Guizhou Renhe

gollark: Yes, exactly.
gollark: After the Great kMarxing, prices are a bit lower than they used to be.
gollark: I think 3KST/i is about average now.
gollark: *This message probably not sponsored by the Reich Shop™*
gollark: Lemmmy, for just 0.2KST/i!

References
  1. "宮磊平靜面對下課 加扎出任甘肅天馬主帥". people.com.cn. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  2. "China 1984". rsssf.com. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  3. "FIFA World Youth Championship USSR 1985". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. "Gazza: I'm feeling a lot better these days". standard.co.uk. 5 August 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  5. "China 2003". rsssf.com. 22 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  6. "宫磊首秀难见神奇处 主场五轮不胜陕西前景堪忧". chanba.hsw.cn. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  7. "Guizhou Renhe Claim CFA Cup Despite Loss at Tianhe". wildeastfootball.net. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  8. "Sina Visitor System". www.weibo.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  9. Wei, By Wang Zhuoqiong and Cang. "From retailer to football promoter". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  10. "足协杯-人和总分3-2恒大队史首夺冠 恒大三冠梦碎". Sports.sina.com.cn. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
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