RETIRED Shanghai Shenhua soccer player Sun Ji is enjoying his new role as a TV commentator and working with children to teach them the benefits of sports.

His passion for the “beautiful game” remains just as strong as it was during his playing days.

Sun did commentary for STV Sports for three group stage games during the ongoing FIFA World Cup. “It’s fun, but it’s also tiring given the 11-hour time difference,” Sun tells Shanghai Daily.

Sun is a follower of Spanish team, though the defending champion failed to advance from the group stage.

“This year’s tournament is really hard to predict. The traditional strong teams did not manage to show their expertise. Belgium played really good in their last-8 game against the US, and I hope they can go further,” he says.

The 32-year-old former right back spent most of his senior career at Shanghai Shenhua, now Shanghai Greenland FC, with his twin brother, Sun Xiang, who plays as a left back. Sun Ji played on the national team in 2007 and 2008, and also played for Hangzhou Greentown from 2010 to 2012 before retiring last year due to a spinal injury.

He works as a guest commentator for Shanghai East Asia’s CSL games and also does commentary for some European league games.

Sun takes the job seriously, saying he starts doing his “homework” weeks before an assignment.

“I review the previous games of both teams and how the players are performing,” the long-time Shenhua fan favorite says. “I also keep up to date on the injury situation of both teams.

He also follows his former club, Shanghai Greenland FC, and Shanghai Shenxin. “East Asia is the top-ranked team of the three currently, and they have a better chance to battle for a spot in next year’s Asian Champions League. The team is stable. The rest of the season will give them time to improve technique and strategy issues.”

East Asia sits 6th in the 16-team CSL with 23 points. Shanghai Shenxin is 9th on 16 points while Shanghai Greenland is 12th with 15.

However, the Shanghai native says it’s still too early for any of the city’s clubs to challenge CSL powerhouse Evergrande from Guangdong Province, which last month received a 1.2-billion-yuan (US$192 million) investment from Alibaba Group.

“The club started at a very high level. And the team has a more advanced ethos compared to other teams,” Sun says of Evergrande.

His twin brother is currently playing for Evergranda, the CSL leader and defending Asian champions. He says he watches all of his brother’s games and they speak regularly.

“Xiang are I mostly talk about his physical conditioning and form,” says Sun Ji, who went to Seoul last year to cheer on his brother in the first leg of the 2013 Asian Champions League final match between Evergrande and Seoul FC.

The brothers were a popular duo among Shanghai fans in their old Shenhua days. They helped the team win the 2003 CSL title although Shenhua was later stripped of it due to a match-fixing scandal. The brothers were not implicated in the scandal.

Sun Ji admits he misses playing, but he continues to find new paths and opportunities.

“I love soccer, so I do miss my professional career,” he says, ruling out a comeback. “However, there are different ways to show your love. I have already bid farewell and I’ll concentrate on what I’m doing now.”

He keeps fit by exercising two hours every day. He also plays soccer with friends about once a week.

Sun takes pride in being one of the owners of a local sports center, which provides soccer, swimming  and other sports courses to children.

“The institution is not about unearthing future professional athletes,” he says. “It’s about giving children a chance to get involved in sports and get more exercise. It’s more like giving kids, who are overburdened with school work, a chance to learn a new hobby and help them improve.”