{{Short description|Chinese footballer (born 1953)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{family name hatnote|[[Guan (surname)|Guan]]|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Guan Zhirui<br>关至锐 | image = | upright = | caption = | full_name = Guan Zhirui | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|4|12}} | birth_place = [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]], China | death_date = | death_place = | height = | position = [[Full-back (association football)|Full-back]] | youthyears1 = –1971 | youthclubs1 = Zhanjiang | years1 = 1972–1983 | clubs1 = [[Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.|Guangdong]] | caps1 = | goals1 = | totalcaps = | totalgoals = | nationalyears1 = 1974–1976 | nationalteam1 = [[China national football team|China]] | nationalcaps1 = | nationalgoals1 = | manageryears1 = 2009 | managerclubs1 = [[Guangdong Sunray Cave F.C.|Guangdong Sunray Cave]] |medaltemplates= {{MedalSport | Men's [[Association football|football]]}} {{MedalCountry | {{CHN}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[AFC Asian Cup]]}} {{MedalBronze | [[1976 AFC Asian Cup|1976 Iran]] | [[1976 AFC Asian Cup squads#China|Team]]}} }} {{Infobox Chinese | s = 关至锐 | t = 关至锐 | order = st | p = Guān zhìruì | w = Guān<sup>1</sup> zhì<sup>1</sup>ruì<sup>2</sup> }}
'''Guan Zhirui''' ({{zh|s=关至锐|p=Guān zhìruì}}; born April 12, 1953) is a retired Chinese football player and manager. He played as a [[Full-back (association football)|full-back]] for [[Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.|Guangdong Hongyuan]] on a club level and was part of the club's first national title at the [[1979 National Football League]]. He also represented his home country of [[China national football team|China]] for the [[1976 AFC Asian Cup]], achieving third place in the country's Asian Cup debut.
==Club career== Guan was born in [[Guangzhou]] on April 12, 1953, though his family would move to [[Zhanjiang]] three years later after the first modern port was established there by the newly founded People's Republic of China as a part of a 14-year-long project. He also lived in [[Hong Kong]] for fourteen years. Football was strong in the port city as he played the sport for Zhanjiang Port Authority Primary School, Zhanjiang Amateur Sports School and the Zhanjiang No. 2 Middle School football team. His success in youth football would result in him representing Zhanjiang in the 1971 youth football tournament.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 25, 2025|title=看看1976年中国男足队员都有谁，现状如何？李富胜、陈熙荣等|url=https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1835592717605596810&wfr=spider&for=pc|website=随言杂谈体育历史文化|language=zh|access-date=December 17, 2025}}</ref> He was then scouted by the coach of [[Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.|Guangdong]] play for the senior team as a full-back alongside [[Rong Zhixing]], [[Du Zhiren]] and [[Chen Xirong]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lang|first=Bin|date=March 15, 2022|title=中超时代 表现突出的十大广东球员|url=https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/481533855|website=[[Zhihu]]|language=zh|access-date=December 17, 2025}}</ref> Guan played in the [[1st Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup]] and played in a [[exhibition game|friendly]] against [[Inter Milan]]. He would also see the club earn considerable success as they would win the [[1975 National Games of China]] as well as the [[1979 National Football League]] as [[captain (association football)|captain]] where the club won both championships before his retirement in 1983.<ref name="Zhanjiang">{{Cite web|last=Liu|first=Wen|title=湛江籍中国足坛名宿关至锐谈国足发展之路|url=https://static.nfapp.southcn.com/content/201611/18/c185496.html|website=Zhanjiang Evening News|date=November 18, 2016|language=zh|access-date=December 17, 2025}}</ref>
==International career== Guang was later selected to represent [[China national football team|China]] for their international debut at the [[1976 AFC Asian Cup]], becoming the second footballer to hail from [[Zhanjiang]] following [[Chen Fulai]] with the club reaching an impressive third place.<ref name="Zhanjiang"/> Prior to this, he had played for China in various friendlies across Africa against [[Chad national football team|Chad]], [[Zaire national football team|Zaire]], [[Rwanda national football team|Rwanda]], [[Burundi national football team|Burundi]], and [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia]] in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 23, 2021|author=小康聊球|title=他曾是广东队的队长，也是国家队的福将，铁腰何佳|url=https://www.sohu.com/a/456815546_121059848|website=[[Sohu]]|language=zh|access-date=December 17, 2025}}</ref>
==Managerial career== Guan would later become a trainer in both men's and women's football, notably training Chinese internationals such as [[Wei Haiying]], [[Zhao Lihong]], [[Ou Chuliang]] and others. He also coached the Guangdong women's football team.<ref name="Zhanjiang"/> He also served as manager for [[Guangdong Sunray Cave F.C.|Guangdong Sunray Cave]] for the [[2009 China League One]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 16, 2009|title=图文-09赛季中甲联赛广东日之泉队 队务关至锐|url=https://sports.sina.com.cn/b/p/2009-05-16/19414383251.shtml|website=[[Sina Corporation]]|language=zh|access-date=December 17, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Navboxes colour |title = China squads |bg = #db000d |fg = #fbea0e |list1 = {{China squad 1976 AFC Asian Cup}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Zhirui}} [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Chinese men's footballers]] [[Category:China men's international footballers]] [[Category:Footballers from Zhanjiang]] [[Category:Guangdong Winnerway F.C. players]] [[Category:1976 AFC Asian Cup players]] [[Category:Men's association football defenders]] [[Category:20th-century Chinese sportsmen]]