Zuo Shusheng
Encyclopedia
Zuo Shusheng is a former Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 international soccer player and manager. As a player, he played for Tianjin City FC (now currently known as Tianjin Teda F.C.) and Dutch team Alkmaar Zaanstreek before he retired. As a manager he returned to his former club in Tianjin where he has twice managed them in his career, with his greatest achievement being when he managed the club to a fourth place finish in the 2008 Chinese Super League and a chance to play in the 2009 AFC Champions League for the first time.

Club career

Zuo Shusheng started his football career when he played for Tianjin City FC (currently known as Tianjin Teda F.C.) in the 1978 league season. With them he helped them win the 1980 as well as the 1983 league title (which they shared with Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.
Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.
Guangdong Hongyuan Football Club was a disfunct Chinese football club, established on September 15, 1992 by Guangdong Hongyuan Group and Guangdong Football Association...

 in 1983). After begin an integral member of the Tianjin squad for ten years he would be given the opportunity join Alkmaar Zaanstreek of Holland in 1988.

International career

A promising young footballer Zuo Shusheng would make his debut against South Korea on December 29, 1978 in an Asian Cup qualifier which China lost 1-0. Despite the defeat he would still be included in the squad that took part in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup
1980 AFC Asian Cup
The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was the seventh edition of the Asian Nations Cup, the football championship of Asia . It was hosted by Kuwait between September 15 and 30. The field of ten teams was split into two groups of five. Kuwait won their first championship, beating Korea Republic in the final 3-0....

 and while the tournament saw China play disappointingly Zuo Shusheng would nevertheless start to become an integral member of the Chinese team. By the time of the 1984 AFC Asian Cup
1984 AFC Asian Cup
The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the eighth edition of the Asian Nations Cup, the football championship of Asia . It was hosted by Singapore between December 1 and December 16. The field of ten teams was split into two groups of five...

 arrived Zuo Shusheng would now captain the team to a runners up position, however he retired from international football in 1985 after China lost a crucial 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 121 teams entered the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition...

 game against Hong Kong
Hong Kong national football team
The Hong Kong national football team , represents Hong Kong in international association football events such as the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and East Asian Football Championship. The team is represented by the Hong Kong Football Association....

.

Coach career

After he retired Zuo Shusheng was allowed to become the head coach of Tianjin City FC  for a short period when they didn't compete in the 1992 league season. After finishing his management training Zuo Shusheng would officially become the new head coach of Tianjin Teda when he replaced Lin Xinjiang (蔺新江) in the second half of 1996 league season to help Tianjin fight against relegation from the top tier and he would eventually help them to a respectable eighth in the league. The 1997 league season was to be far more difficult for Zuo Shusheng when Tianjin struggled to get results at the beginning of the season and this led Zuo Shusheng to resign as the head coach during the middle of the league season. He would later join Chengdu Wuniu and Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma was a football team based in Lanzhou, Gansu province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League....

 as a trainer until 2007 when Tianjin Teda would bring back Zuo Shusheng to the club but this time as the head coach of reserve team. Zuo Shusheng would once again return to Tianjin senior team as head coach in 2008 when Jozef Jarabinský
Jozef Jarabinský
Jozef Jarabinský is a former Czechoslovak football player and later a football manager of Slovak origin.He played for Slovan Bratislava, Bohemians, Dukla Prague and Sparta Prague....

 was sacked during the 2008 league season. The appointment would see Tianjin quickly move up the table and end the season in fourth place as well as a position within the AFC Champions League
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League is the premier Asian club football competition hosted annually by Asian Football Confederation . The tournament is contested among the top thirty-two clubs from the top 10 Asian leagues, two of which must qualify through the playoffs...

 for the first time. During the 2009 AFC Champions League Tianjin struggled within the competition while also being unable to improve upon last years final league position, this saw the club replace him with Arie Haan at the beginning of the 2010 league season.

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