The best model of declining Chinese soccer is over with a brilliant career → Holding a retirement game at the end of the year

Apr 13, 2025

The best model of declining Chinese soccer is over with a brilliant career → Holding a retirement game at the end of the year
XINHUAYonhap News



Former Chinese national soccer team striker Elkeson (36, Chinese name Iker Sun), who ended his splendid career, will hold a retirement match.

On the 12th (local time), the Chinese portal 'Sohu Dotcom' announced that 'Elkesson will hold a retirement event at the end of this year. Once nicknamed `Ego' by fans, the naturalized superstar infested the entire Chinese soccer community with a more intense `Memory Murder' just 48 hours after his retirement announcement, the report said.

There is an 80% chance that the event will be held in Guangzhou, described by Elkesson as a 'second home'Sohoo dotcom', it added.




Elkesson is considered one of the best foreigners of all time in Chinese soccer. In 2013, Elkeson joined Guangzhou Hungda for 5.7 million euros, and together with Koncha and Muriki, he built a 'Makgang Trident' to lead Guangzhou to a two-time Asian Champions League championship. He was a two-time top scorer in the Chinese Super League.

The best model of declining Chinese soccer is over with a brilliant career → Holding a retirement game at the end of the year
When the Chinese Football Association implemented its naturalization policy in 2019, Elkesson decided to naturalize as a 'model student' who played in the Chinese Super League for five years. Although he played 19 A matches and did not meet expectations, his professional attitude became a benchmark for naturalized players, according to Sohu.

The outlet said 'Elkesson was always the first player to arrive at the training ground. This professionalism is all the more valuable in the Chinese Super League, where money-based football is in decline,' he said. Elkesson, who moved to Shanghai Sanggang in 2016, returned to Guangzhou in 2019 and played for three years. Elkesson, who was in Gremiu's sleep in 2022, returned to China and ended his career at Chengdu Rongcheng.




Elkesson played 298 games in the Chinese Super League, scoring 155 goals and 79 assists. It is the third-best scoring record in his career. Elkesson also has a career-wide market value of over 300 million euros. The K-League, which meets in the Asian Champions League, has always been the subject of fear.

The best model of declining Chinese soccer is over with a brilliant career → Holding a retirement game at the end of the year
`Sohoo dotcom' is not just a charity game but a spiritual legacy of the golden age of Chinese football. The organizing committee is said to have contacted legends such as Kaorin and Zheng Zhi to recreate the classical line-up of the Guangzhou dynasty.

There is also a possibility that Kim Young-kwon, a center back who currently plays for Ulsan, will be invited. Kim Young-kwon played as a key Guangzhou defender for six years from 2012 to 2018, contributing to six Chinese Super League wins and two Asian Champions League wins.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.