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Biography of Li Tie - Soccer
Biography
C
Chinese name|Li Li Tie (李铁; born May 18, 1977 in Liaoning, China) is a People's Republic of China|Chinese professional footballer. He currently plays for Everton F.C. The cream of his generation of Chinese football players, Li was already a veteran of the national squad when China national football team|China embarked on their Football World Cup|World Cup debut in Football World Cup 2002|2002. Despite ending the compaign without a win, Li was shipped to the FA Premier League|Premiership in an exchange deal between sponsors Kejian and Everton. His first season at Goodison Park was a surprising success. Manager David Moyes played him in 31 league games, the majority from the starting line-up, where his displays as a defensive midfielder helped the club clinch a 7th place finish. Everton tussled with his former club Liaoning Bodao to sign him permanently after the 2002/3 season. The deal was finally closed in August 2003 for an undisclosed fee, with Li signing a three-year deal. It is likely Everton paid between £500,000 to £1.5 m for the midfielder, although the price was hugely offset by outside sponsorship. His 2003/4 season was marred by a sending-off (against Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal, Aug 2003) and a series of injuries. The last, a broken leg picked up during international duty in February 2004, ruled him out for more than 13 months.

