Gao Fengwen

Gao Fengwen had a lengthy football career in China, first as a player and later as a coach. In 1956, when he was 17-years-old, Gao joined the Shenyang youth team where he won the National Youth Football League Championship. The following year he joined Liaoning FC, remaining with the team until the end of his playing career in 1973. He soon got called up to the Chinese national youth team and was selected for the national side in 1960. In 1965 Gao was named as the captain of the national side, leading the team until 1972.

Following his retirement as a player Gao became a coach, eventually taking charge of the Chinese youth team in 1981. He led the team at various tournaments including the 1982 AFC Youth Championship in Thailand and the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship in China. In 1986 he was promoted to the role of head coach of China’s national football team with the aim of qualifying for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The Chinese football team breezed through the qualification tournament to reach the Olympics for the first time since the 1948 Games in London. At the Games, however, China lost to West Germany and Sweden, and drew 0–0 with Tunisia to be eliminated.

Despite the poor performance at the Olympics, Gao remained in charge of the team, leading them to fourth place at the 1988 AFC Asian Cup. He remained as the team’s head coach until 1990 when he was sacked after China failed to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and lost to Thailand in the quarter-finals of the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.