BEIJING GUOAN
Beijing Sinobo Guoan FC is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and play their home matches in the Workers Stadium. The shareholders in the team are the real estate company Sinobo Group, CITIC Guoan Group. The club was formed by the CITIC Group. The club’s predecessor was Beijing FC and they played predominantly in the top tier and won numerous titles and cups. The club became professional in 1993 and was one of the founding members of China’s first fully professional top tier league. They have since achieved success in the League in 2009 and in the Cup in 1996, 1997 and 2003. According to Forbes, Beijing Guoan is the second most valuable team in China with an estimated value of167m. The team had an estimated 30m revenue in 2015.
MANAGER
Jose Gonzalez is the current manager of Beijing Guoan. He was appointed in November 2016. Gonzalez previously managed a string of Spanish sides such as Granada and Cordoba.
INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
Egor Krimets, Burak Yilmaz, Ralf, Jonathan Soriano and Renato Augusto are the current International players in Beijing’s squad. Egor Krimets is currently on loan from Uzbek team Pakhtakor. He previously had a spell with the team in 2013. Burak Yilmaz is Beijing’s most high profile international player. He has played for a number of top Turkish teams like Galatasaray, Trabzonspor, Fenerbache and Besiktas. He joined Beijing in 2016 and has 13 league goals in 19 matches. Ralf joined Beijing in 2016 from Corinthians. He made over 180 appearances for the Brazilian side and was capped 8 times by the national team. Renato Augusto played for the likes of Flamengo, Bayer Leverkusen and Corinthians before joining Beijing in 2016. He has won 17 caps for the National team and was part of the Brazilian Olympic Gold Medalist team in 2016. Jonathan Soriano joined Beijing in 2017 and was a member of the Barcelona team in 2009. He was a reliable scorer for Red Bull Salzburg having found the net 120 times in 144 matches.
RECORD SCORER
Chinese player Xizhe Zhang is Beijing’s record scorer with 34 goals. He is still playing for the club. Among the other current players, Burak Yilmaz has found the net 13 times for the club.
RIVALRIES
Beijing Guoan contest the China Derby with Shanghai Shenhua. The rivalry arises from the competition between the two citites as China’s premier city. Beijing have a rivalry with Tianjin Teda and matches between the two are known as the Jing-Jin derby. The rivalry is one of the most competitive ones in China with intense matches that has led to violence spreading onto the streets leading of destruction of property.
HONOURS
Chinese Super League x1 (2009)
Chinese Jia-A League x5 (1957, 1958, 1973, 1982, 1984)
Chinese FA Cup x4 (1985, 1996, 1997, 2003)
Chinese FA Super Cup x2 (1997, 2003)