Chinese soccer legend Zeng Xuelin dies at 87

Chinese soccer legend Zeng Xuelin, who had directed the national team to finish runners-up in the 1984 Asian Cup, died of Uremia here Thursday at 87.

Zeng, who was born in Thailand, moved back to China with his family at the age of seven and settled in the Guangdong Province. As a goalkeeper in his playing career, Zeng helped Tianjin FC to finish second in the first Chinese National Games in 1959.

Zeng was also one of the Chinese soccer elites sent to Hungary to study football in the 1950s.

Zeng became the coach of Tianjin FC in 1960 and achieved success in the same year with the titles of the first-tier league and the Chinese FA Cup.

In 1973, Zeng took the rein of Beijing FC and achieved quick success again with that year's league title.

After guiding Beijing FC to the league top podium in 1982, Zeng was appointed as the coach of the national team.

Zeng's managerial career reached its peak in 1984 when China got a runners-up finish in the Asian Cup in Singapore. This has been the best result for the Chinese national team coached by a Chinese.

However, Zeng's Waterloo also came quickly in May 1985 when the Chinese national side, a clear favorite in the 1986 Mexican World Cup Asian Zone qualifying tournament, was stunned by minnows Hong Kong 2-1 in Beijing, failing to survive the group stage of the qualification.

Zeng stepped down. Since then, Zeng has not directed any team except for a short spell with Shenzhen FC as a caretaker in 1998.

But Zeng still paid much attention to the Chinese soccer development, the youth training in particular. Last month, Zeng attended a forum on the development of Guangdong soccer, saying he has a dream that China can be a frenquenter of FIFA World Cup finals. Enditem