Yang Xu

For the Chinese speed skater, see Yang Xu (speed skater).

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.

Yang Xu (simplified Chinese: 杨旭; traditional Chinese: 楊旭; pinyin: Yáng Xù; born 12 February 1988) is a former Chinese professional footballer who last played for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.

Yang Xu
杨旭

Personal information
Full name	Yang Xu
Date of birth	(1988-02-12) 12 February 1988 (age 37)
Place of birth	Dalian, Liaoning, China
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
2001–2002	Dalian Yiteng
2003–2004	Liaoning Whowin
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2013	Liaoning Whowin	171	(52)
2013–2016	Shandong Luneng	74	(14)
2014	→ Changchun Yatai (loan)	11	(2)
2017–2019	Tianjin Tianhai	53	(17)
2017	→ Liaoning Whowin (loan)	9	(0)
2020–2023	Shanghai Shenhua	50	(4)
Total		368	(89)
International career
2003–2005	China U-17
2009–2019	China	54	(28)
Medal record Representing  China Men's football EAFF Championship 2010 Japan Team 2013 South Korea Team 2015 China Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Liaoning Whowin

Yang Xu started his football career when he made his debut for Liaoning Whowin on 16 April 2005 in a 1–0 loss against Shanghai Shenhua.^[1] He scored his first goal for the club on 5 May 2005 in a 3–1 win against Shenzhen Jianlibao.^[2] By the end of the 2005 season, Yang scored three league goals in 11 appearances and saw his club finish in a tenth-place position. The following season would see Yang continue to establish himself with the squad by making a further 20 league appearances and scoring three goals; however, most of his appearances came from the bench.^[3] By the 2008 season, he was still a squad player trying to establish himself as the main striker within the team; however, he was unable to help Liaoning avoid relegation at the end of the season. Staying with the club, Yang was promoted to first-choice striker at the start of the 2009 league season and he would repay them with 15 league goals in 22 appearances, making him the second best goalscorer in the league.^[4] His goals would aid Liaoning to win the division title and immediate promotion back to the top flight.

Shandong Luneng

On 27 February 2013, Yang transferred to fellow Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng. In July 2014, he was loaned to Changchun Yatai for the rest of the 2014 season.

Tianjin Quanjian

On 26 February 2017, Yang transferred to fellow top-tier side Tianjin Quanjian and was immediately loaned to his former club Liaoning Whowin for one season.^[5] He made his first appearance since returning to the club on 3 March 2017 in a 1–1 draw against Guizhou Zhicheng.^[6] He returned to Quanjian ahead of the 2018 season, scoring 18 goals in 62 appearances across 2 seasons.

Shanghai Shenhua

On 15 July 2020, Yang joined Shanghai Shenhua on a free transfer following the disbandment of Tianjin Tianhai.^[7] On 18 September 2020, he scored his first goal for the club, a penalty in a 1-1 draw against Guangzhou R&F in the first round of 2020 Chinese FA Cup, and Shenhua subsequently lost 5-3 in the penalty shootout. As a prolific centre forward throughout his career, Yang suffered from goal drought in his first 2 seasons at Shenhua. On 8 June 2022, Yang finally scored his first league goal for the club in a 2-0 win over derby rivals Shanghai Port.^[8]

On 11 April 2023, Yang announced his retirement from professional football via livestream.

International career

Yang was called up to the Chinese national team and made his international debut on 30 September 2009 in a 4–1 win against Botswana.^[9] Despite playing for a second-tier side he would be tried out in several friendlies before he was given his chance to play in a qualifying match for the AFC Asian Cup in a 2–1 win against Vietnam on 17 January 2010 where he also scored his debut goal.^[10] On 30 March 2011, he scored twice in a 3–0 win against Honduras and on 23 July 2011, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–2 win against Laos.

Career statistics

Club statistics

As of 20 October 2023^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liaoning Whowin	2005	Chinese Super League	11	3	0	0	0	0	-		-		11	3
	2006		20	3	0	0	-		-		-		20	3
	2007		19	0	-		-		-		-		19	0
	2008		14	3	-		-		-		-		14	3
	2009	China League One	23	15	-		-		-		-		23	15
	2010	Chinese Super League	27	11	-		-		-		-		27	11
	2011		29	9	0	0	-		-		-		29	9
	2012		28	8	4	2	-		-		-		32	10
	Total		171	52	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	175	54
Shandong Luneng	2013	Chinese Super League	22	4	1	0	-		-		-		23	4
	2014		7	0	0	0	-		2	0	-		9	0
	2015		28	7	4	2	-		5	6	0[a]	0	37	15
	2016		17	3	1	0	-		8	4	-		26	7
	Total		74	14	6	2	0	0	15	10	0	0	95	26
Changchun Yatai (loan)	2014	Chinese Super League	11	2	0	0	-		-		-		11	2
Tianjin Tianhai	2018		25	9	1	0	-		7	1	-		33	10
	2019		28	8	1	0	-		-		-		29	8
	Total		53	17	2	0	0	0	7	1	0	0	62	18
Liaoning Whowin (loan)	2017	Chinese Super League	9	0	0	0	-		-		-		9	0
Shanghai Shenhua	2020		16	0	1	1	-		0	0	-		17	1
	2021		14	0	6	1	-		-		-		20	1
	2022		20	4	1	0	-		-		-		21	4
	Total		50	4	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	58	6
Career total			368	89	20	6	0	0	22	11	0	0	410	106

1. Appearances in Chinese FA Super Cup

International statistics

National team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	1	0
2010	7	3
2011	10	6
2012	2	0
2013	7	2
2014	5	2
2015	11	8
2016	4	1
2017	0	0
2018	1	0
2019	6	6
Total	54	28

International goals

As of 10 October 2019^[12]

Scores and results list China's goal tally first.

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 January 2010	Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam	Vietnam	1–0	2–1	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.	17 November 2010	Tuodong Stadium, Kunming, China	Latvia	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3.	18 December 2010	Zhuhai Sports Center, Zhuhai, China	Estonia	3–0	3–0
4.	29 March 2011	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	Honduras	2–0	3–0
5.				3–0
6.	23 July 2011	Tuodong Stadium, Kunming, China	Laos	1–2	7–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.				3–2
8.				4–2
9.	28 July 2011	New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, Laos		6–1	6–1
10.	28 July 2013	Olympic Stadium, Songpa-gu, South Korea	Australia	3–1	4–3	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
11.	10 September 2013	Olympic Stadium, Tianjin, China	Malaysia	2–0	2–0	Friendly
12.	4 September 2014	Anshan Sports Centre Stadium, Anshan, China	Kuwait	1–1	3–1
13.	10 October 2014	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	Thailand	3–0	3–0
	13 December 2014	Chenzhou Sports Center Stadium, Chenzhou, China	Kyrgyzstan	3–0	4–0	Friendly1
				4–0
	17 December 2014	Evergrande Football Base, Qingyuan, China		2–0	2–0
	3 January 2015	Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Campbelltown, Australia	Oman	4–1	4–1
14.	27 March 2015	Helong Stadium, Changsha, China	Haiti	1–1	2–2	Friendly
15.	16 June 2015	Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu, Bhutan	Bhutan	1–0	6–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.				3–0
17.				5–0
18.	12 November 2015	Helong Stadium, Changsha, China		2–0	12–0
19.				4–0
20.				6–0
21.				8–0
22.	24 March 2016	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	Maldives	2–0	4–0
23.	11 June 2019	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, China	Tajikistan	1–0	1–0	Friendly
	30 August 2019	NFTC Stadium, Xianghe, China	Myanmar	1–0	4–1	Friendly1
24.	10 September 2019	National Football Stadium, Malé, Maldives	Maldives	3–0	5–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
25.	10 October 2019	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, China	Guam	1–0	7–0
26.				3–0
27.				4–0
28.				5–0
1:Non FIFA 'A' international match

Honours

Club

Liaoning Whowin

• China League One: 2009^[13]

Shandong Luneng

• Chinese FA Super Cup: 2015

International

China national under-17 football team

• AFC U-17 Championship: 2004

China PR national football team

• East Asian Football Championship: 2010