Ma Mingyu Explained

Ma Mingyu
马明宇
Birth Date:4 February 1970
Birth Place:Chongqing, Sichuan, China
Position:Attacking midfielder
Years1:1990–1994
Years2:1995–1996
Years3:1997–2000
Years4:2000–2001
Years5:2001–2003
Clubs1:Sichuan Quanxing
Clubs2:Guangdong Hongyuan
Clubs3:Sichuan Quanxing
Clubs4:Perugia
Clubs5:Sichuan Guancheng
Caps2:42
Caps3:88
Caps4:0
Caps5:65
Goals2:9
Goals3:8
Goals4:0
Goals5:5
Nationalyears1:1996–2002
Nationalteam1:China
Nationalcaps1:86
Nationalgoals1:12
Medaltemplates:

Ma Mingyu (; born 4 February 1970, in Chongqing, Sichuan) is a former Chinese International footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Sichuan Quanxing throughout the majority of his career, having several spells with them. He also represented Guangdong Hongyuan and Italian Serie A side Perugia. Internationally he played in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, 2000 AFC Asian Cup and captained China's campaign during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Ma Mingyu predominantly played for top tier Chinese club Sichuan Guancheng where he spent several spells with them throughout his football career. In his first spell with them he would attract attention from Guangdong Hongyuan after Ma had a prolific 1994 league season that saw him play 21 games and score 3 goals.Ma would move to Guangdong Hongyuan at the beginning of 1995 league season, however despite a promising start that saw Guangdong come 4th[1] in the league his time with Guangdong saw him win nothing with them and after a disappointing 1996 league season that saw Guangdong come 9th,[2] Ma returned to Sichuan.

Ma Mingyu's second spell at Sichuan Guancheng was to prove considerably more successful with Sichuan as they were genuine title contenders during this period and came 3rd in the 1999[3] and 2000[4] league seasons. With Ma firmly established as a permanent fixture within Sichuan's left midfield and becoming a member of the Chinese national team he would attract attention from Italian team Perugia Calcio in the Serie A in the 2000–01 season.[5] His time at Perugia, however was a disaster as he played in no games for them and he returned to Sichuan Guancheng where he has started to play first team football on a regular basis in preparation for the World Cup. At the end of the 2003 league season he would decide to retire from professional football.

International career

As an attacking left-footed midfielder Ma Mingyu would break into the senior team on 30 January 1996, when he made his debut in a qualifier for the 1996 AFC Asian Cup against Macau in a 7–1 victory.[6] In the next qualifying game against the Philippines on 1 February 1996, he would score his first goal in a 7–0 victory.[7] After several friendlies he would go to establish himself as a regular within the squad and then go to the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. At the end of the campaign, he had become an integral member of the Chinese team and when Bora Milutinović came in as the new head coach Ma Mingyu would be named as his captain. During his captaincy he would lead China to a fourth-place finish at the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and see the team qualify for their first FIFA World Cup tournament in 2002. Once Bora Milutinović left at the end of the campaign Ma Mingyu's international career would also end.

Career statistics

International statistics

National team
YearAppsGoals
1996133
1997232
1998123
199900
2000162
2001152
200260
Total8512

International goals

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 1 February 1996 3–0 7–0 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2. 17 July 1996 1–1 1–1 Friendly
3. 9 December 1996 1–0 3–0 1996 AFC Asian Cup
4. 4 June 1998 1–1 1–1 Friendly
5. 30 November 1998 2–0 4–1 1998 Asian Games
6. 19 December 1998 Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla, Thailand 3–0 3–0
7. 26 January 2000 2–0 19–0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8. 6 May 2001 3–0 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
9. 20 May 2001 Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou, China 1–0 3–1

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: China League 1995. 19 June 2003. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 7 August 2012.
  2. Web site: China League 1996 . 19 June 2003 . 7 August 2012 . live . . https://web.archive.org/web/20120929192052/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china96.html . 29 September 2012 .
  3. Web site: China 1999. 2 July 2001. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 7 August 2012.
  4. Web site: China 2000. 19 June 2003. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 7 August 2012.
  5. Web site: Ma Mingyu Becomes First Chinese to Join Italian Serie A. english.peopledaily.com.cn. 9 August 2000. 7 August 2012.
  6. Web site: China PR 7–1 Macau. teamchina.freehostia.com. 30 January 1996. 7 August 2012.
  7. Web site: China PR 7–0 Philippines. teamchina.freehostia.com. 1 February 1996. 7 August 2012.