As the clock ticks down and our national team's path to qualifying for this year's 18-team tournament seems to be in the balance, stability in the player lineup is especially crucial. Perhaps it is more practical to re-summon Byeloram than to expect anything from Oscar. Oscar's technique is not exceptional, and physical confrontation has become his main tool, making it difficult to bring a qualitative leap to the national team. The Cangzhou Lions, under financial pressure, may have to let go of players, or even face the dilemma of players moving to other countries. It would be unfair to ask too much of the Cangzhou Lions. If the national team wants to achieve a turnaround, instead of hoping for naturalized players, they should push for player renewal.
Looking back at the glory of the U19 team, young talents such as Liu Chengyu, Wang Yudong and Mao Weijie were regarded as the future of soccer in China. They were selected for the national team training camp for Ivankovic's assessment. Although these players are still young and slightly inexperienced in the game, Xiang Yuwang of Chongqing Tongliang Dragons may become a dark horse. In the match against Shandong Taishan, he not only scored a goal, but also delivered a key assist, his individual ability is on par with national team players. Naturalized players may be able to alleviate the predicament in the short term, but they cannot fundamentally turn the situation around.
The retention of Ivankovic conveys the helplessness of the CFA: the difficulty of paying the liquidated damages, which can only maintain the status quo. The expectations of naturalized players cannot be pinned on the FA, they can only serve as an aid. Looking back, the national team's road to naturalization has not been smooth, with Ickerson in low form and Alan suffering from injuries. Only Fernando and Jiang Guangtai have performed steadily, and Oscar's fate with the national team seems to be over. The national team should seize the opportunity of these 10 matches in the upcoming 18-team tournament to realize the renewal. Every world qualifier means sacrifices for the future, but always with no World Cup ticket.
