Yuan Lin (February 26, 1977) is a Chinese football player who currently plays as a defender

Defender (association football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 for Shenzhen Ruby in the Chinese Super League

Chinese Super League

The Chinese Football Association Super League , commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the Pirelli Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association football in China, operating under the auspices of the...

.

Club career

Yuan Lin started his career at Guangzhou Apollo youth team at the age of 12, however he was unable to graduate into the senior team at the end of the 1996 league season. At the beginning of the 1997 league season he moved to Shenzhen Ping'an (now currently known as Shenzhen Asia Travel F.C.) who were in the second tier and fighting for promotion to the top tier of the Chinese league system. While Shenzhen were promoted after coming second in the league Yuan Lin spent the majority of the season in the reserves that trained in Italy.

It was not until the 1999 league season that Yuan Lin established himself within the team playing as a versatile centre-back or left-back. With Yuan Lin firmly established in the squad Shenzhen continued to progress to a higher position each season within the league until they surprised many by winning the Chinese Super League

Chinese Super League

The Chinese Football Association Super League , commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the Pirelli Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association football in China, operating under the auspices of the...

 in the 2004 league season. However despite Shenzhen's success influential manager Zhu Guanghu

Zhu Guanghu

Zhu Guanghu is a Chinese football coach currently under contract with Shaanxi Chanba, and was previously the head coach of the China national football team to 22 August 2007.-Managerial career:...

 and several major players left the club at the end of the 2005 season. Yuan Lin has remained at the club and has remained a constant stabilizer in the team.

External links

• Player profile at bet007.com
• Player profile at Sina.com
• Player stats at Sohu.com
• Player stats at Sodasoccer.com