Su Maozhen
Birth date30 July 1972 (age 54)
Birth placeQingdao, Shandong, China
Height186cm
PositionSecond striker
CurrentclubShandong Taishan (head coach)
Years 11994–2002
Clubs 1Shandong Luneng
Caps 1166
Goals 165
Nationalyears 11994–2002
Nationalteam 1China
Nationalcaps 153
Nationalgoals 127
Manageryears 12006
Managerclubs 1Shandong Luneng U17
Manageryears 22006–2008
Managerclubs 2China U23 (assistant)
Manageryears 32009–2011
Managerclubs 3China U20
Manageryears 42011–2012
Managerclubs 4China U16
Manageryears 52013–2015
Managerclubs 5Qingdao Hainiu
Manageryears 62015–2016
Managerclubs 6Qingdao Jonoon
Manageryears 72016–2018
Managerclubs 7Qingdao Huanghai (managing director)
Manageryears 82018
Managerclubs 8Tianjin Teda U19
Manageryears 92019–2021
Managerclubs 9Beijing Sport University
Manageryears 102023–2024
Managerclubs 10Qingdao Hainiu (assistant)
Manageryears 112025–
Managerclubs 11Shandong Taishan (vice general manager)
Manageryears 122026–
Managerclubs 12Shandong Taishan

Su Maozhen (Chinese: 宿茂臻; pinyin: Sù Màozhēn; born 30 July 1972) is a Chinese football coach and former international player.

As a player, he spent his whole career with Shandong Luneng as a striker where he won several league and cups with them as well as being a regular for the Chinese national team, playing at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After his retirement as a player he eventually moved into management where he started off as an assistant before becoming the head coach of the China under-20 national team.

Club career

Early on in his career, Su had two brief trial periods with Manchester United in the 1989–90 and 1991–92 seasons, during which he made a number of appearances for the Junior A team alongside future stars such as Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes. Once Su returned to China and established himself as regular for Shandong Luneng, he then started his rise to prominence. This was first shown when he helped Shandong win the 1995 Chinese FA Cup and continued the following 1996 Chinese Jia-A League season when he was the league's top goalscorer with 13 league goals, despite Shandong only finishing in 5th in the league.[1] By the 1999 league season, he had been made club captain, and led them to the league and cup double, resulting in him being named Chinese Footballer of the Year.[2]

International career

Su Maozhen made his first senior international cap against Saudi Arabia on 23 January 1994 in a 1–0 defeat.[3] However, he struggled to make much of an impact and was sidelined until he became a regular for Shandong and win the 1995 Chinese FA Cup with them. Given another chance to make an impression for his country he was selected for the squad to play against Macau for China's 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign where on 30 January 1996 he scored his debut goal in a 7–1 victory.[4] After that game he quickly started to a regular for his country and was included in the squads that reached the quarter-finals in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup and then semi-finals of the 2000 AFC Asian Cup while also being an integral member of the squad that qualified for 2002 FIFA World Cup. During the tournament he only made one appearance against Costa Rica and once the World Cup campaign finished Su soon retired from international football.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
130 January 1996Mong Kok Stadium, Kowloon, Hong KongMAC2–17–11996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
21 February 1996Philippines5–07–0
37–0
41 February 1997Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, ChinaUnited States1–11–1Friendly
523 January 2000Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamPhilippines1–08–02000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
62–0
73–0
85–0
97–0
1926 January 2000GUM3–019–0
116–0
1215–0
1329 January 2000Vietnam1–02–0
141 September 2000Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai, ChinaThailand1–03–12000 Four Nations Tournament (Shanghai)
153 September 2000Iraq2–04–1
164–1
1713 October 2000International Olympic Stadium, Tripoli, LebanonSouth Korea1–12–22000 AFC Asian Cup
185 August 2001Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai, ChinaTrinidad and Tobago2–03–02001 Four Nations Tournament

Management career

In 2006, Su graduated from Salford Business School, University of Salford in the United Kingdom, having completed a master's degree in management. In 2006 he returned to his former club, Shandong Luneng where he was offered their under-17 management position.[5] In November 2006, he was appointed as Assistant Manager of the Chinese Olympic football team by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in their preparations for the 2008 Beijing Games. Once the tournament finished he was offered the chance to become the Head coach of the Chinese under-20 team. His first assignment was to qualify for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship, which he achieved by winning all of the qualifying games while during the tournament China reached the quarter-finals.[6]

In February 2025, Su returned to Shandong Taishan as vice general manager of the club.[7]

Honours

Player

Shandong Luneng[1]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "China 1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2 July 2001. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. ^ "China PR 0–1 Saudi Arabia". teamchina.freehostia.com. 23 January 1994. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  4. ^ "China PR 7–1 Macau". teamchina.freehostia.com. 30 January 1996. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  5. ^ "宿茂臻意外当选国青队主帅正在济南忙全运队的事". spball.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  6. ^ "AFC U-19 CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 MATCH SUMMARY". the-afc.com. 2010-10-11. Archived 13 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  7. ^ "zh:宿茂臻：泰山队未来发展的掌舵者" (in Chinese). baidu.com. 6 August 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.