Homegrown hero

Sun shooting to be China's World Cup star

BEIJING (AP) -- Sun Jihai's father wanted his son to follow him into track and field.

But their hometown was the northeastern port of Dalian, where soccer rules. Once Sun's physical education teacher saw his prowess on the field at age 9, his path was clear.

"In Dalian at that time, anyone who was good at sports would gravitate naturally toward soccer, and so did I," Sun was quoted saying.

He didn't do too badly.

This summer, the 24-year-old Sun will be anchoring the back line for the first Chinese squad to reach the World Cup finals.

And Sun will bring an added distinction to South Korea and Japan as the only Chinese player headed for the English Premier league.

In February he transferred from a Chinese team to first division champions Manchester City, who are being promoted next season.

City's boss, former England coach Kevin Keegan, calls Sun a "quality player" who will be able to hold his own among the most competitive.

In comments posted on his team's Web site, Keegan says he'll use Sun as a utility defender playing anywhere across the back line or as a holding midfielder.

If Manchester seems like a long way from Dalian, then South Korea -- across the Yellow Sea from Sun's hometown -- once seemed just as remote.

Sun was a member of the national team that was eliminated from the 1998 finals by tiny Qatar.

The humiliating 3-2 home defeat saw China branded as perennial underachievers.

Sun returned to his old team in Dalian, Wanda Shide, spent a season with English team Crystal Palace in 1998-99, and then went back home again.

When Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic took over the Chinese team in 2000, Sun was left off the squad. He said only hard work and perseverance got him back into the lineup.

"I'm the sort of person who if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it well," he told popular Chinese website Sina.com.

Sun says his game is still far from where he hopes to take it, which is in the forward line.

All his success to date hasn't put a stop to the good-natured needling from his father that he's wasted his talent, Sun said.

"He still says that if only I'd gone into track and field, I would have made an even bigger mark," he said.

 

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