Club Career
Zong Lei started his football career playing for the Tianjin Teda F.C. youth team before breaking into the senior team during the 2001 league season. While at Tianjin Teda he would struggle to gain any significant playing time and after several seasons he would transfer to Shandong Luneng where he replaced Deng Xiaofei for the goalkeeping position for a short period. It was during this time that he would win the Chinese FA Cup and Super League Cup at the end of the 2004 league season, however the following season saw him lose his place within the team. By the beginning of the 2006 league season newly promoted Changchun Yatai were interested in him and he was allowed to leave after a 2 million yuan transfer. At Changchun Yatai he would immediately become their first choice goalkeeper and see them surprise many by coming fourth in the league. The following season saw him improve upon the previous seasons results and he would go on to play a key role in their 2007 Chinese Super League title winning season.
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