I'm not too familiar with the history of well-known or semi-well known Chinese players, but I was just wondering what you guys thought about this considering Fan has been a perrenial european leaguer for quite a few years now and he has been named Asian Footballer of the Year in.............2001 I think? I'm not sure but according to the World Cup website, he was at one point not too long ago, named AFOY. If you disagree, then please share your knowledge of past Chinese greats!
Well the match fixing claims have hit his reputation pretty hard. Plus he has only played in very minor leagues in europe such as english first division and SPL which is arguably worse then EFD. So i would say no. To be honest i can't remember a single Chinese player who stands out as a great.
I agree with quattrosystem. Fan is the greatest Chinese player over a decade. He is the only Chinese player who won the AFOY award. I watched him play pro soccer since 94. He can play every positions on the field except the goalie. He scored 10+ goals every season as a defender when he played for shenhua. In the old days, he couldn't get the chance like Li and Sun got now, so he stuck at the lower division. Even though, he established his status at the 1st division pretty well.