Twenty-six years have passed, and both the oldest brothers who are already starters on the team and the youngest who are waiting to realize their dreams have retired.
Zhou Ting, who returned to his hometown to join Dalian in 2017, fought for the first time for his hometown. The veteran helped the team manage to overtake and eventually get relegated through a stormy season in 2018.In 2019, Zhou Ting will continue to play in the Chinese Super League. At that time, the 40-year-old became the only post-70s player in the Chinese Super League. After his retirement, Zhou Ting made a comeback as a coach and player at Dalian Jinshiwan before joining the coaching staff of Dalian Professional Football Club's U19 ladder team. This year, he joined Dalian Yingbo Football Club as the head coach of the U19 ladder team.
Most of Zhou Ting's former buddies are in soccer-related jobs, to introduce where these buddies from back in the day are today!
Sun Jihai was a starter in his first A-A appearance in 1995. He is the highest achieving of these players and the most successful player to study abroad in Chinese soccer history. One of them is now working full time with his hometown of Dalian's Jinpu New District on all fronts, devoting himself to youth training.
Wang Peng, teammates Wu Jun and An Qi. , who has been playing for the first team since 1996, founded the youth-oriented Moonbird Football Club to train reserves for Dalian soccer. An Qi now works for Chinese First Division side Shijiazhuang, serving as acting coach last season.
Goalkeeper Chen Dong joined the Dalian Wanda first team in 1996 as Han Wenhai's replacement. He was the starting goalkeeper for Dalian Shide in 2001 and 2005, and is now the general manager of Chinese newcomers Dalian Yingbo Football Club.Li Guoxu, who joined the first team in 1997, is now the head coach of Dalian Yingbo's first team.
After joining the Dalian Wanda first team in 1998, Liu Hongyi became a starter for a while, scoring his first career goal in Dalian Wanda's 7-0 away win over Wuhan Yaqi (Wuhan Cardinal K). After that, he retired early due to injuries and started to work in soccer-related jobs. He worked for Dalian Beyond, Shaanxi Daqin Zhishui, and Hohhot, and passed the CFA Level D Coaching Instructor Exam.
Wang Feng, who broke into the first team in 1996, suffered a considerable setback. 2000 saw an early end to his career when he was wrongly implicated in the 11.2 match-fixing fiasco. In recent years, he has faded from the mainstream media.
Zhang Gang, who used to play for Dalian Wanda's first team, is now engaged in school soccer.
