Chinese footballer (born 1970)
Ma Mingyu (simplified Chinese:马明宇;traditional Chinese:馬明宇;pinyin:Mǎ Míngyǔ; born 4 February 1970, inChongqing, Sichuan) is a former Chinese International footballer who played as amidfielder. He representedSichuan Quanxing throughout the majority of his career, having several spells with them. He also representedGuangdong Hongyuan and ItalianSerie A sidePerugia. Internationally he played in the1996 AFC Asian Cup,2000 AFC Asian Cup andcaptainedChina's campaign during the2002 FIFA World Cup.
Ma Mingyu predominantly played for top tier Chinese clubSichuan Guancheng where he spent several spells with them throughout his football career. In his first spell with them he would attract attention fromGuangdong Hongyuan after Ma had a prolific 1994 league season that saw him play 21 games and score 3 goals.[1]Ma would move to Guangdong Hongyuan at the beginning of 1995 league season, however despite a promising start that saw Guangdong come 4th[2] 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,[3] 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[4] and 2000[5] 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 teamPerugia Calcio in theSerie A in the 2000–01 season.[6] 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
[edit]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 the1996 AFC Asian Cup againstMacau in a 7–1 victory.[7] In the next qualifying game against thePhilippines on 1 February 1996, he would score his first goal in a 7–0 victory.[8] After several friendlies he would go to establish himself as a regular within the squad and then go to the1996 AFC Asian Cup. At the end of the campaign, he had become an integral member of the Chinese team and whenBora 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 the2000 AFC Asian Cup and see the teamqualify for their firstFIFA World Cup tournament in 2002. Once Bora Milutinović left at the end of the campaign Ma Mingyu's international career would also end.
International statistics
[edit]| National team |
|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|
| 1996 | 13 | 3 |
| 1997 | 23 | 2 |
| 1998 | 12 | 3 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 16 | 2 |
| 2001 | 15 | 2 |
| 2002 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 85 | 12 |
|---|
International goals
[edit]| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|
| 1. | 1 February 1996 | Mong Kok Stadium,Kowloon,Hong Kong |  Philippines | 3–0 | 7–0 | 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 2. | 17 July 1996 | Workers' Stadium,Beijing,China |  Uruguay | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 3. | 9 December 1996 | Tahnoun Bin Mohamed Stadium,Al Ain,United Arab Emirates |  Syria | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1996 AFC Asian Cup |
| 4. | 4 June 1998 | Seoul Olympic Stadium,Seoul,South Korea |  South Korea | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 5. | 30 November 1998 | Surat Thani Stadium,Surat Thani,Thailand |  Lebanon | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1998 Asian Games |
| 6. | 19 December 1998 | Tinsulanon Stadium,Songkhla, Thailand |  Thailand | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| 7. | 26 January 2000 | Thống Nhất Stadium,Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam |  Guam | 2–0 | 19–0 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 8. | 6 May 2001 | RCAF Old Stadium,Phnom Penh,Cambodia |  Cambodia | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9. | 20 May 2001 | Guangdong Olympic Stadium,Guangzhou, China | 1–0 | 3–1 |
