Recently, China's Football Association unveiled the Asian Cup preparatory list, but accidentally will be non-pedigree naturalized players such as Eckerson, Fernando, Alan and Luo Guofu excluded, this decision seems to indicate that they will completely bid farewell to the national team stage. Observing the recent situation of these naturalized players, Alain has little chance to play after returning to Brazil, and has terminated his contract with the club; Fernando has returned to the Chinese Super League to join Taishan, but failed to solidify his starting position with outstanding performance; Ackerson's goal-scoring efficiency in Chengdu has been maintained well, but failed to hit the target at the national team level, which may be a key factor for his inability to take part in the consecutive World Cup qualifying matches and the Asian Cup.
Among the aforementioned naturalized players, Luo Guofu is in relatively better shape. He is currently playing for Brazil's Club America Mineiro. In the past season, Luo Guofu performed well in that club, scoring goals continuously. However, he missed half of the season in the Barclays Premier League due to a serious injury. According to Brazilian media reports, several Chinese Super League teams threw olive branches to Luo Guofu this September after his contract expired. Many Chinese fans expected Lok Guofu to revive his career in the Chinese Super League and energize the national team's offense like Ickxon did. Sadly, however, Lok Fu turned down the offer and decided to either extend his contract with America Mineiro or consider other teams in the Brazilian league.
In my opinion, Luo Guofu's rejection of the offer from a Chinese Super League team reflects that naturalized players have doubts about the overall level and competitiveness of the Chinese Super League. They prefer to maintain their competitive status in a high-level league. Naturalized players like Luo Guofu, who have already accumulated wealth in the Chinese Super League's "Golden Dollar Era", do not need to play for their country to pursue financial benefits. In fact, the relationship between the naturalized players and the national football team is more of an employment relationship, and they do not have a sense of identification with our culture and the level of the players. They may not play for the national soccer team for the rest of their lives unless they are motivated by huge financial benefits. Lo Kok Fu's refusal means that National Football League head coach Jankovic will be without the naturalized Brazilian striker at the Asian Cup. The burden of scoring for the national soccer team still rests on local players such as Wu Lei and Wei Shihao.
However, the CFA has been put in an awkward position by the fact that naturalized foreign internationals such as Luo Guofu have said "no" to invitations from Chinese Super League (CSL) teams. Originally, the FA expected these players to return in order to improve the competitiveness of the national football team and achieve good results in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. But the reality has given the FA a resounding slap in the face. The FA must now face a reality: the national team naturalization program has failed. If you want to improve the level of Chinese soccer, the only way is to fundamentally strengthen the training of young people, to cultivate top soccer talent, which is the only viable road for Chinese soccer.
