Last year, the Guangzhou soccer world was in a state of flux, and veteran Zheng Zhi was appointed to lead the team to revitalize its fortunes. Even in his forties, he is still considered a breath of fresh air in the Chinese Super League coaching world. Alongside a group of mid-generation coaches in their 40s and 50s, such as Xie Hui and Hao Wei, Zheng Zhi has become a new force in the ranks of local coaches. However, a new change is quietly taking place in the 2023 Chinese Super League. The Nantong Zhiyun club has boldly employed an even younger coach - 39-year-old David Patricio, who will officially take over Cao Rui's coaching whip in March, becoming the youngest helmsman among the 18 teams in the Chinese Super League.
Patricio's soccer career began 20 years ago at the age of 18, when he started his coaching career at the Benfica Football Academy. Since then, he has worked almost exclusively as a ladder coach in Portugal's lower leagues, starting with Benfica's U13 youth team and moving through seven clubs.In 2010, he briefly worked as a fire coaching assistant for Sintra People's United, and in the summer of 2018, he took charge of Estoril's first-team squad, an experience which has given him invaluable experience despite leaving the club shortly afterwards.
In 2019, Patricio worked as a ladder team coach at Nantong FC, gradually rising to become the first team technical director and assistant coach. Now, 13 years later, he is once again in the position of first team coach. Nantong became the club where he stayed the longest in his coaching career, surpassing Sintra People's United and Mavra's two and a half years.
Patricio currently holds UEFA Youth Elite A and Professional Coaching Certificates and has the ability to coach in the Chinese Super League. At Nantong, he works with four coaches including Wei Xin, Gary White, Xie Hui and Cao Rui. Nantong FC chose Patricio not only because he has been serving in the team for four years and knows the team's operation well, but also because his knowledge and familiarity with the team enables him to integrate quickly and reduces the risk of a new coach.
Although Patricio is the youngest coach in the Chinese Super League, he is not the youngest ever. Back in 2006, Chongqing's captain Wei Xin, 29, led the team through its final game of the season as a firefighting coach, and in 2007, he became Chongqing's head coach and led the team back to the Super League. A year later, at the age of 31, he again led the team back to the Super League, and in 2009, at the age of 32, Wei Xin led the team to the Super League as the official head coach, setting a record as the youngest official head coach in the history of the Super League. Unfortunately, he was replaced by Alihan in May due to poor results.
