| Cheng Chin Lung | |
| Fullname: | Cheng Chin Lung |
| Birth Date: | 1998 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Hong Kong |
| Height: | 1.69 m |
| Position: | Attacking midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Kitchee |
| Clubnumber: | 8 |
| Youthyears1: | 2008–2015 |
| Youthclubs1: | Kitchee |
| Years1: | 2015– |
| Clubs1: | Kitchee |
| Caps1: | 43 |
| Goals1: | 6 |
| Years2: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs2: | → Dreams FC (loan) |
| Caps2: | 8 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs3: | → Southern (loan) |
| Caps3: | 4 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2013–2014 |
| Nationalteam1: | Hong Kong U-16 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2015 |
| Nationalteam2: | Hong Kong U-19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2017–2019 |
| Nationalteam3: | Hong Kong U-23 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2017– |
| Nationalteam4: | Hong Kong |
| Nationalcaps4: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | 7 May 2023 |
| Ntupdate: | 24 September 2022 |
Cheng Chin Lung (; born 7 January 1998) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who currently plays for Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee.
A fan of both basketball and football, Cheng applied to join the Kitchee academy at age 9 but was turned down. Not wanting to waste his son's talent, Cheng's father sought out academy coach Chu Chi Kwong personally to ask him to give his son another chance. Cheng was granted another trial and was accepted into the academy at age 10. He later became part of the first class of players to graduate from the Kitchee academy and into the first team when he signed a professional contract in 2015.[1]
During Kitchee's 2015 AFC Cup quarter final match on 16 September 2015, Cheng was handed his first team debut as a substitute late in the match.[2] On 23 April 2016, Cheng scored his first professional goal in a 4-2 win over Hong Kong Pegasus.[3]
In June 2016, Cheng tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a HKFA Youth Cup match and was sidelined for nine months following surgery and rehabilitation.[4] Cheng missed the entire 2016-17 season as a result of the injury.
In July 2017, new Dreams FC manager Leung Chi Wing persuaded Cheng to join his club on loan. On 26 August, he played his first professional match in over a year, starting the game and playing 65 minutes against Tai Po.[5] On 9 January 2018, Cheng was recalled by Kitchee ahead of their 2018 AFC Champions League campaign.[6]
On 14 March 2018, Cheng scored a stunning left-footed curler at the edge of the penalty box in the 92nd minute to give Kitchee a historic 1-0 win in the 2018 AFC Champions League Group stage match over Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol, making him the first ever Hong Kong-born player to receive Man of the Match and Kitchee the first ever team from Hong Kong to win a game in the Champions League.[7]
On 16 August 2021, Cheng joined Southern on loan.
On 3 March 2022, Cheng returned to Kitchee from loan.
On 9 November 2017, Cheng made his senior national team debut in a friendly against Bahrain at the age of 19.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Senior Shield | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Kitchee | 2014–15 | Hong Kong Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[8] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[9] | 1 | 3[10] | 0 | 9 | 2 | |||
| 2016–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | |||
| Dreams FC (loan) | 2017–18 | Hong Kong Premier League | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[11] | 2 | 12 | 2 | ||
| Kitchee | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[12] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | |||
| 2018–19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[13] | 2 | 4[14] | 0 | 16 | 3 | |||
| 2019–20 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[15] | 0 | 15 | 1 | |||
| Total | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 39 | 7 | |||
| Career total | 24 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 61 | 11 | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 6 | 0 | ||
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ||||||
| 1 | 11 September 2017 | Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong | 0–2 | Friendly | ||
| 2019 | ||||||
| 2 | 14 December 2019 | Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan, South Korea | 0–5 | 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship | ||
| 3 | 18 December 2019 | Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Busan, South Korea | 0–2 | 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship | ||
| 2022 | ||||||
| 4 | 19 July 2022 | Kashima Stadium, Kashima, Japan | 0–6 | 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship | ||
| 5 | 21 September 2022 | Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong | 2–0 | Friendly | ||
| 6 | 24 September 2022 | Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong | 0–0 | Friendly | ||
2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23