In winter 2005 he ran afoul of referees in the Asian Champions League and was slapped with a ban for arguing.

Things were bleaker back in 1999. Zheng was beset by legal problems and faced a year out of professional soccer when club Liaoning Chuangye had its assets frozen, including players' transfer rights.

Fortunately for China, he bounced back, reinventing himself as a playmaker along the way. After six years he became the third Chinese player to enter the Premiership, one less than South Korea, following lower-profile compatriots Sun Jihai of Manchester City and Sheffield United's Li Tie.

Scouts were impressed with the Asian goal-scoring machine and put him through a two-day trial at The Valley in November.

"Christmas comes late"

Zheng vowed to help Charlton escape the danger zone when he joined them in January on loan from Chinese champions Shandong. On his first full-game debut, that's just what he did.

"Charlton's ranking in the English Premier League doesn't look good," he told leading Chinese portal Sina.com in December. "I will get used to English play as soon as possible and help the club out of the relegation zone."

On March 18, China's two-time Player of the Year scored a 53rd-minute header and won a late penalty to give the Addicks a two-goal advantage over Newcastle United and see them four points shy of safety in the world's most competitive league, repaying manager Alan Pardew's faith in him and earning the nickname "Zizi" from the British press.

"He's technically very good and he showed that today. He was the difference in the second half," said Pardew, who mulled shifting him to left back but went for a playmaker's role instead.

"I think his best position is in and around the striker, where he played in the second half."

Three previous appearances as a substitute had produced little in the way of results, but expectations were not high.

The same will not be true in Beijing.

With 18 months to go before the Games kick off, Zheng is hardly bursting with confidence. Or maybe it's just his innate pragmatism: China failed to qualify for the last four Olympics and has never medaled at the sport.

"I'm looking forward to (Beijing 2008) but it's hard to say whether I can keep my good form for the next two years," he said.

During an Olympic tune-up in November, the 26-year-old scored the winner against Cameroon to hand Ratomir Dujkovic a gift on the Serb coach's debut.

Although soccer has been an U23 event at the Olympics since 1992, Zheng is eligible as each country can register three overage players.

The squad had its campaign marred in February when a brawl with reserves from Championship side QPR cut short China's tour of Britain and landed several players in hospital.

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