Jiang makes journey from Anfield to Asian Cup

A decade ago, England youth international Tyias Browning made his Everton debut against Liverpool at Anfield, a baptism of fire in one of English football's fiercest derbies.

Fast-forward 10 years and the defender has a new name and is currently playing at the Asian Cup in Qatar for China.

Now 29 and officially going by "Jiang Guangtai", Browning retains the unmistakable accent of his home city of Liverpool, despite his reinvention as the bedrock of China's defense.

"Tyias is a top player and professional, very serious, with a lot of experience in football, and that is precious for our team," China's Serbian coach Aleksandar Jankovic said on Tuesday in Doha. "He can match up in duels, intensity, strength, speed, everything."

Browning's unusual journey began in 2019 when he left his boyhood club Everton and joined Guangzhou Evergrande.

At the time Guangzhou was the most successful team in the Chinese Super League, which itself was throwing money at bringing internationals such as Oscar and Carlos Tevez to the country.

Italian defensive legend Fabio Cannavaro was Guangzhou's coach.

After a protracted couple of years sorting out the paperwork, Browning — by this time Jiang — made his debut for his newly adopted country.

He followed in the footsteps of another former England youth international, Nico Yennaris, who made history in 2019 as China's first naturalized footballer, part of a policy back then to help the country reach the World Cup for only the second time.

Now 30, former Arsenal reserve Yennaris, known in China as Li Ke, is not in Qatar.

Browning, who qualified to play for China because of his grandfather, last week spoke to Chinese media — in English — about his "excitement" at playing his first Asian Cup.

Browning made nine appearances for Everton, but failed to establish himself. Loans to Preston and Sunderland followed, before he left the Goodison Park club in 2019.

Then came his China adventure and a Chinese league title with Guangzhou, the first major honor of his career.

He moved to Shanghai Port, where he plays with former Chelsea star Oscar, and won the Chinese Super League again last season.

Jankovic said Browning was a "precious" commodity for helping China's younger players.

"We have a lot of young defenders coming behind him so he's a kind of role model for them," he said. "So his role is not only on the field, but also off it."

AFP