Following in the footsteps of his father Xu Yang would begin his football career when he joined the Bayi youth team at the age of twelve and showed a ruthless elegance within midfield.
When Shen Xiangfu became Head coach of Beijing Xu Yang finally showed his potential as a creative midfielder and was quickly called up to the Chinese national team.
At the beginning of the 2001 league season Xu Yang was at the peak of his career and he was expected to move to Chongqing Lifan before Shandong Luneng hijacked him for 3,500,000 Yuan.
Xu Yang made his international senior debut in a friendly against Yugoslavia on March 25, 2000 where he came on as a substitute for Li Weifeng in a 2-0 defeat.
[2] Despite this defeat the Chinese Head coach Bora Milutinović kept on playing him in several further friendlies in preparation for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and would even include him in the squad that went to the tournament.