30 Facts About Sun Jihai

Sun Jihai is a Chinese former professional footballer who played in the English Premier League.

Sun Jihai was a member of the China national team that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sun Jihai was voted the best player for the club in September 2002.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sun Jihai 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 Jihai signed a two-year contract with fellow top tier side Shaanxi Chanba.

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

At the beginning of the 2012 season, Sun Jihai followed the club when it decided to move to Guizhou and rename themselves Guizhou Renhe.

Sun Jihai played nineteen league matches and five Chinese FA Cup matches in the 2012 season as the club achieved fourth place that league season and were runners-up in the cup which gained them entry into AFC Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

On 4 February 2015, Sun Jihai moved to fellow top tier side Chongqing Lifan on a free transfer.

On 8 December 2015, Sun Jihai returned to second tier side Beijing Renhe on a free transfer.

On 10 December 2016, Sun Jihai announced his retirement from football.

Sun Jihai made his international debut for the China national team on 6 December 1996 against Uzbekistan.

At the 2002 FIFA World Cup in a group stage match against Costa Rica, Sun Jihai picked up an ankle injury after a tackle from behind by Mauricio Solis after just 17 minutes.

Unable to play, Sun Jihai was replaced after 25 minutes and sat out the rest of the group stage, while Solis was only shown a yellow card.

On 7 June 2008, during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Qatar, Sun Jihai was shown a straight red card for dissent while he was warming up as a substitute on the bench.

Sun Jihai was given a ban of five matches by FIFA and did not receive any call-ups to the national team after this incident.