Soccer great Gai Zengjun passes away
Early in the morning of August 5, an unfortunate news came from Dalian - former international footballer and Dalian soccer legend Gai Zengjun passed away at the age of 70 due to illness. This once in the domestic soccer world enjoys a good reputation of the "Gai's four" one, became the second member of the long death. Dalian soccer star Zhu Yuanbao released the news through his personal social media channels and expressed his deep condolences for his passing.
Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter later confirmed that former international footballer Xu Hong also confirmed the news. An international footballer in the 1980s, Gai Zengjun's brothers are Gai Zengsheng, Gai Zengxian, and Gai Zengchen.On June 29, 2017, Gai Zengsheng also passed away in Shanghai due to illness.
Zhu Yuanbao wrote in social channels: "I heard that the coach Gai Zengjun, who had led the team to win numerous championships, unfortunately died of illness! Just received the sad news from the old national football coach Yan Qun: Gai guide passed away early this morning. I wish this soccer-loving friend a good journey! I hope we can all take good care of ourselves. A few days ago, I learned that Coach Gai Zengjun was admitted to the military hospital in Shanghai after an operation, so I went to visit him with Coach Gao Huichen. At that time, although he had lost a lot of weight, his spirit was still strong and he was still talking and laughing. I really didn't expect him to leave us so soon, which makes us sad."
Gai Zengjun became the head coach of Dalian Wanda the following year after Zhang Honggen led the team to its first A-League title in the 1994 season. He was one of the founding fathers of the glorious era of Dalian soccer in the 1990s. However, his coaching career at Dalian Wanda did not go well, and he was replaced by Chi Shangbin before the end of the season. After leaving Dalian Wanda, Gai Zengjun coached at Bayi, Shenzhen Jinpeng, and Guangzhou Songri, and his 20 years of coaching experience has given him a good understanding of the Chinese league.
During the 2001 Top Ten Championship, Gai Zengjun served as the head of the technical research team for the preparation of the national football team, responsible for collecting information on the opponents and reporting to the national team's coaching team, which shows his ability to deal with affairs and his prestige in the national football arena. In recent years, Gai Zengjun has been serving as a special lecturer of the Football Association, participating in the training of primary and intermediate coaches. After resigning from Dalian Yiteng, he has been the coach of Dalian Shide's ladder team. on May 29th, 2011, Korean coach Park Sung-hwa stepped down and Dalian Shide announced that Li Seok-jae would be the acting head coach, but two days later, it was announced that Gai Zengjun would be the acting head coach.
Gai Zengjun has had a colorful coaching career, first assisting Zhang Honggen in managing the Dalian Wanda Football Salon in 1994, then briefly serving as the team's head coach in 1995, leading Bayi back to the First Division in 2000, and then serving as the head coach of Dalian Yiteng in 2008, where he once led the team to a No. 1 ranking in the Central League, and then, in 2011, taking over Dalian Shide after the dismissal of South Korean coach Park Sung-hwa. Dalian Shide.
The four brothers of the Gai family were all professional soccer players in the last century, and all of them have participated in the domestic First Division League, two of them have also been selected for the national team, "Gai's four masters" reputation came from this.
