Tan Long

Tan Long (born April 1, 1988), former name Tan Xin, is a Chinese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai and the China national team.

Club career
Tan started playing football when he was six. Between 1994 and 2004, he studied academics and played football at the Zhongshan School in his hometown Dalian before moving to Shanghai to further his career. He subsequently played for Shanghai United's youth team before joining second tier club Pudong Zobon in 2008 in the China League One division. He made his senior debut and scored his first professional goal on April 29, 2007, in a 2–1 home defeat to Beijing Institute of Technology.

Tan relocated to the United States in late 2008, and played for the Atlanta Blackhawks in the USL Premier Development League in 2009, scoring 7 goals in 12 appearances. He attended open tryouts for MLS’s Philadelphia Union, but did not get called back after the first round of workouts, and eventually signed with FC Tampa Bay of the new USSF Division 2 Professional League in January 2010.

Tan's rights were traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC as part of the deal taking Jonny Steele and Ricardo Sánchez to Tampa Bay on July 20, 2010. He went on trial with the club in November 2010 in view of signing with the club following their move up to Major League Soccer. Tan signed a contract with the club on March 11, 2011. He made his debut for the club on March 26, 2011, in a 1–0 loss to Philadelphia Union, and in doing so became the first Chinese-born player to play for a Major League Soccer club. On October 12, 2011, Tan become the first Chinese-born player to score a goal in the league, against D.C. United.

Whitecaps FC traded Tan to D.C. United on June 28, 2012, in exchange for a third-round 2015 MLS SuperDraft pick. He scored his first goal against the Chicago Fire in a 4–2 win for D.C. United. Tan was later released after the end of the season.

Tan then signed with USL Professional Division club Orlando City on February 6, 2013. On April 6, 2013, Tan scored a goal and assisted on another during his debut for Orlando in a 3–1 victory over Phoenix FC. In the fourth round of the 2013 U.S. Open Cup, he scored in the second minute in a 1–0 victory against defending champions Sporting Kansas City to bring his club to the next round. His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2013 season and he was released.

On February 21, 2014, Tan returned to China and joined Chinese Super League newcomer Harbin Yiteng. He received a ban of four matches at the beginning of 2014 season when he was registered at the Chinese Football Association for age falsification which he changed his age from April 1, 1988, to February 2, 1989. Tan played seven matches for Harbin before he was released by the club on July 5, 2014.

Tan returned to the United States and signed with USL Pro club Arizona United SC on July 11, 2014. In only 12 league appearances for Arizona, Tan scored five goals, tying with Jonathan Top as the team's leading scorer and led the team with 32 shots. After signing Tan, Arizona nearly doubled its goals-per-game average, going from 0.88 to 1.58. Tan was named to the All-League Second Team for his efforts. On October 21, 2014, it was announced that Tan had signed a multi-year contract for the club before the 2015 USL season. He again led United with 14 goals in 27 games and was tied for fourth in league play along with Luke Vercollone of Colorado Springs. He also was selected for the All-League First Team. Tan was loaned to the Tampa Bay Rowdies after the end of the USL season on September 22, 2015. Tan played for Arizona United in 2016.

Changchun Yatai
On January 22, 2017, Tan transferred to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai. He made his debut for Changchun on March 4, 2017, in a 5–1 away defeat against Shanghai SIPG, coming on as a substitute for Zhou Dadi in the half time. His first goal in the Chinese Super League came in a 1–0 home win against Henan Jianye on April 23 2017, when he scored the winning goal as Yatai secured their first win of the season.

In a memorable game against 7-time defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande at home on 11 August 2018, he came on as a substitute and scored twice to help the team come from behind to win 3-2. At the end of the 2018 season, he would unfortunately be part of the squad that was relegated.

Tan scored 19 league goals and won both the domestic golden boot and Most Valuable Player in the 2019 China League One season. On 8 October 2020, he scored a hat-trick on his 100th appearance for Yatai in a 4-0 win against Nantong Zhiyun, and Yatai would go on to win the title and promoted back into the top tier at the end of the 2020 season.

On 4 June 2022, Tan scored his first Chinese Super League hat-trick in a 4-1 win against Guangzhou City in the opening game of the 2022 Chinese Super League season.

International career
Tan made his debut for Chinese national team on March 26, 2018, in a 4–1 loss against Czech Republic in the third place match of 2018 China Cup. On 12 June 2021, Tan scored his first international goal in a 5–0 win over Maldives in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Tan was named in China's squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar and started the team's opening match against Tajikistan on 13 January 2024.

International

 * Scores and results list China's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tan goal.

Honours
Orlando City
 * USL Pro Championship: 2013

Changchun Yatai
 * China League One: 2020

Individual
 * USL All-League First Team: 2015
 * USL All-League Second Team: 2014
 * China League One Most Valuable Player: 2019