Soccer fans are no longer unfamiliar with the practice of naturalizing foreign players to join the national team in order to strengthen the team. This phenomenon is commonplace in European, South American and North American football, and these naturalized players are affectionately referred to by fans as "naturalized international players".
In Asia, especially East Asia, Japan and South Korea are the powerhouses of soccer. However, the Korean men's soccer team has always had reservations about bringing in foreign players, which is not hard to understand because Koreans have a strong sense of identification with the local national philosophy.
In contrast, Japan has invested a lot of resources and efforts in local youth training. Before the explosion of talent, Japan was open to bringing in foreign players, as ex-Japanese internationals such as Ramos, Lui Bisu, Lord Santoshi, and King Tanaka Togasa exemplify.
The Chinese men's soccer team is going through a difficult period of not having enough youth, and in order to cope with the pressure of performance, foreign players have been brought in to supplement the team in recent years. From Chinese players with bloodlines to pure foreigners without bloodlines, many players who grew up overseas or were originally foreigners have joined the national soccer family so far.
However, due to the strength is not up to standard, change of mindset or other reasons, most of the national football naturalized players in the naturalization of success did not achieve the expected results, and some of these players have even been forgotten by the fans. In this article, we will take stock of five gradually forgotten national football naturalized players for your reference.
V. Hou Yongyong
23 year old Hou Yongyong, formerly known as Ioan Hou Sait, has a Norwegian father and a mother from Henan, China, and is 1/2 Chinese. As a product of Rosenborg's youth training camp, Hou Yongyong has made a name for himself in Norwegian soccer, and was once known as the "Norwegian 98 Trio" along with Arsenal's Ödgård and Scottish Premier League's Celtic's Aiye.
At the beginning of 2019, Hou Yongyong joined Chinese nationality and then joined Beijing Guoan. However, as a midfielder, Hou Yongyong did not show the style of the Norwegian trio after playing in China, the growth rate is far less than expected, and naturally failed to get the call-up of the national football team.
IV. Delgado
In 2018, Shandong Luneng brought in then 21-year-old midfielder Delgado from Portuguese Premier League powerhouse Sporting Lisbon's B. In June 2019, Delgado officially took Chinese citizenship.
Considering Delgado was only 22 years old when he joined, he is quite attractive both in terms of potential and immediate success, and is expected to provide midfield depth for the National Football League in the future.
However, before carrying out the relevant operation, the preparation of the relevant staff in the material query is obviously not sufficient. Delgado, who represented Portugal in the 2017 U-20 World Cup, will not be able to represent the Chinese national team in the future according to the current rules of FIFA, which is equivalent to a wasted effort, and Delgado's situation in Chinese soccer is quite embarrassing.
III. Xiao Tao Tao
The 24-year-old Xiao Tao Tao, formerly known as Robert Xiao, plays as a striker and winger and now plays for Kunshan FC in the Central League.
Xiao Tao Tao's grandfather, a native of Zhongshan in Guangdong Province, traveled to Peru in South America in the last century and started a family there. A soccer player of Chinese descent, Xiaotao Tao Tao was a starter for Peru's national youth team, and early on played for Peru's first division powerhouse, Peru Sporting University.
In 2019, Xiao Taotao entered the Chinese Football Association (CFA). In front of the dividends of the Chinese Super League, Xiao Tao Tao readily accepted the invitation to become a naturalized Chinese footballer and a member of Guangzhou Evergrande. However, the strength shown by Xiaotao Tao Tao after arriving in China was not convincing, and now he has been mixed up in the Central League.
II. Gallagher
In January 2015, Guangzhou Evergrande brought in then 24-year-old leading scorer Golat from Barclays Premier League side Cruzeiro for a fee of 15 million euros, making him the first Chinese Super League (CSL) player to have a transfer fee of more than 100 million yuan.
As a foreign aid, Golat has shown top performance in the few years he has joined the Chinese Super League, and the Brazilian, who has the strength and understanding of Chinese soccer, has naturally become a target for the national soccer team to compete for introduction.
At the end of 2019, Golat successfully joined Chinese nationality. However, the wind and clouds have changed, due to the introduction of FIFA's new rules about naturalized players needing to reside in the new country continuously for a certain period of time before they can represent the country's national team in FIFA tournaments, Golat is temporarily unable to play on behalf of the national football team.
All because, halfway through 2019, Evergrande had loaned Golatt to play for Palmeiras in the Brazilian A-League, leading to a recalculation of Golatt's continuous residency in China, and he won't be able to play on behalf of the national soccer team until at least 2023, when Golatt will be 32 years old. Even more ironically, after becoming a Chinese player, Golat's play in the Chinese Super League has declined significantly, and it is unknown whether he will still have the strength to be a thigh in the national soccer team at that time.
I. Lok Kok Fu
Luo Guofu, formerly known as Aloysio, nicknamed "Bison", plays as a striker.In 2014, Shandong Luneng brought in Aloysio, who had a good performance in the Barclays Premier League's São Paulo.
In the three years since he first came to the Chinese Super League, Luo Guofu played quite well in Shandong Luneng and Hebei Huaxia Happiness, with an average of more than 0.5 goals per game, and a professional attitude that has been unanimously praised. With age, the impact of Luo Guofu's "white bear" naturally began to decline.
In 2019, the 31-year-old Luo Guofu has been hanging out at Meixian Tiehan FC in the Central League, and his athleticism is long gone from the Iron Bull that crisscrossed the Chinese Super League back in the day. However, he has still become a key scout and has been given a valuable opportunity to be naturalized.
After becoming a Chinese player, Luo Guofu moved to Evergrande in the Chinese Super League. As for the national team level, Luo Guofu was only symbolically selected in the training list, and did not get the opportunity to play in the national football team. In retrospect, the operation related to the introduction of Luo Guofu by the national soccer team is really puzzling.
