Oliver Benjamin Gerbig (; born 12 December 1998) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who currently plays as a centre back for Chinese Super League club Henan and the Hong Kong national team.
Gerbig has played for Hong Kong U-20, Royal Blues and Taipei Red Lions in the Taiwan Football Premier League. In 2018, he began playing NCAA Division I Men's Soccer at Coastal Carolina University in the United States. In 2020, he transferred to the University of Virginia.
Gerbig began his academy career playing for Inter Taipei F.C. while simultaneously playing and studying at Taipei American School.
In April 2015, Gerbig began playing for Royal Blues in Taipei at the age of 16. In his debut match, a league match against Taichung City on 1 November 2015, he was substituted in at 41 minutes, and 4 minutes later, he scored his first goal with a long shot. This goal contributed to Royal Blues winning the game 3âÂÂ1.
In April 2018, Gerbig joined the Taipei Red Lions, but he suffered a knee injury during this time. Not only did he leave the team after only three months of playing for the Taipei Red Lions, but he also missed the 2018 Asian Games.
In July 2018, Gerbig went to the United States to study at Coastal Carolina University and represented the Coastal Carolina Men's Soccer Team in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer. In two years, he appeared in 35 matches as the main centre back. In the second year, he helped the team win the 2019 Sun Belt Conference and qualified for the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament.
On 29 February 2020, Gerbig announced his transfer to the University of Virginia on the social media, where he would represent Virginia Cavaliers Men's Soccer. University of Virginia is a top school for the NCAA Men's Soccer Division I program in the United States. The team has qualified for the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament over 40 times and won 7 championships. It also finished as runner-up in 2019.
On 24 July 2022, Kitchee announced an agreement for Gerbig to join in the 2022âÂÂ23 season. Gerbig made his professional debut in the AFC Champions League Round of 16 match against BG Pathum United on 19 August 2022.
Gerbig established himself as a first-choice centre back during the 2022âÂÂ23 season by starting all 18 league matches. He also score twice in a group stage match in the Sapling Cup against Resources Capital on 1 February 2023.
After impressive performances during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage matches, Gerbig attracted interest from Chinese clubs. On 29 February 2024, Gerbig joined Chinese Super League club Henan for a transfer fee of RMB $1 million.
On 14 July 2024, Gerbig was loaned to China League One club Dalian Yingbo for the rest of the season.
Gerbig represented Hong Kong U-20 in the 13th National Games of the PeopleâÂÂs Republic of China in 2017. In the 2018 Asian Games the following year, although Gerbig was once again selected for the 40-man roster of Hong Kong U-23, he had to sit out on the Asian Games due to injury.
In March 2019, Gerbig was called up again in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers and played for the first time against North Korea U-23, where Hong Kong U-23 lost by two goals in the final match.
On 16 November 2023, Gerbig made his international debut for Hong Kong in the World Cup qualifiers against Iran.
On 26 December 2023, Gerbig was named in Hong Kong's squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Gerbig was born in Hong Kong. He was born to a German father and Hong Kong mother. Gerbig attended the Discovery Bay International School, where he began playing football. He moved to Taiwan at the age of five.
After moving to Taiwan, Gerbig attended Taipei European School. He transferred to Taipei American School two years later, where he graduated high school in 2017.
Kitchee