At the end of 2016, his son Gao Yuyang gave up his former Chinese citizenship and transferred to Japan, becoming the first case in history of a Chinese international footballer settling in Japan after retirement.
Zhang Aolin, who is only 18 years old, signed a contract with Gamba Osaka in October this year and will be promoted to the first team in the coming season. During Gamba Osaka's team program, the Chinese goalkeeper announced that he had acquired Japanese citizenship, and even said that he "wants to represent Japan in the world". Zhang Orin's transfer caused a lively discussion on Weibo. Of course, there are different voices, but most of them imply that his transfer to Japan is a normal choice, and that he wants to succeed in Japan to prove that there is something wrong with the youth training of the national soccer team.
In October of this year, Gamba Osaka announced that 18-year-old Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Aolin, a member of the youth team, had signed a contract to become a first team player for Gamba Osaka in the upcoming season. Zhang Aolin appeared on Gamba Osaka's official YouTube program. After showing his room, he even revealed that he had previously obtained Japanese citizenship, in other words, he had renounced his original Chinese citizenship.
Zhang Orin, 194 centimeters tall and born in Osaka, certainly has a big goal in mind. "I want to represent Japan in the World Cup," and showed a challenge to the team's seniors for the position of starting goalkeeper.
Domestic media reported Zhang Aolin's transfer from China to Japan under the headline "Giving up playing for the national soccer team", which inevitably caused heated debates among Weibo users. Many netizens are not optimistic about Zhang Aolin's transfer. "If they can't play for two years, I guess they will want to come back (to China)." ﹑ "Chinese nationality is not you want to come when you want to come, we have so many talents, it is not uncommon for others to join other nationalities." ﹑ Anyway, we are not short of goalkeepers now, it's okay to have him.
In the end, Zhang Aolin is still a junior, for the fans seems to be a ""Nobody"", most of the fans of his naturalization is not only not a good feeling, but also pointed out that Zhang Aolin naturalization is a common sense, "Born in Japan, ﹑ long time in Japan, the choice of Japanese citizenship is very normal. It's very normal. Whether from the perspective of career or life, it is an indisputable choice.
Chinese fans would prefer Zhang Olin to succeed in Japan, citing a fundamental problem with China's youth training. "If we expect him to play, we can prove 100% that there is something wrong with our youth training soil. There are still a lot of people who don't recognize or run away from this." ﹑ "If he can succeed, it just shows that it is the soil problem, of course, this is also the truth that everyone knows."
