National Football League Asian Cup Roster Changes and Naturalized Player Dynamics
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has just unveiled its training squad for the Asian Cup, and surprisingly, several high-profile non-blooded naturalized players, including Aixon, Fernando, Allan and Luo Guofu, have not been included in the list. This decision means that they may bid farewell to the national team stage completely. Looking at Alan's recent situation, he has had very few chances to play since his return to Brazil and has already terminated his contract with the club. Fernando has returned to the Chinese Super League to join Taishan, but has not been able to secure a starting position. Iverson has been playing well in Chengdu, but has scored very few goals for the national team, which may be the main reason for his absence from the consecutive World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup.
Of the several naturalized players, Luo Guofu has been in the most consistent form. He is currently playing for the Brazilian club Minero Americano. In the past season, Lok Kwok Foo showed great performance in Minero Americas, scoring goals consecutively. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury and missed half of the season in the Barclays Premier League. According to the Brazilian media, several Chinese Super League teams want him to return to the Chinese Super League after his contract expires this September. Many Chinese fans expected Luo Guofu to revitalize his career in the Chinese Super League and contribute goals to the national team like Ickxon did to improve the team's attacking power. Unfortunately, he declined the offer and is planning to either extend his contract with America Mineiro or join another team in the Brazilian league.
Personally, Luo Guofu's refusal reflects that naturalized players have reservations about the overall level and competitiveness of the Chinese Super League. They prefer to maintain their competitive status in a high-level league, and naturalized players like Luo Guofu have already reaped the rewards of the Golden Dollar Era, and playing for the national football team is not a means of earning a living for them. In fact, the relationship between naturalized players and the national football team is more like a contract of employment, and they have a low level of recognition of the Chinese culture and the level of the players. If there is no financial incentive, they may not play for the national soccer team for the rest of their lives. Luo Guofu's refusal means that national football manager Jankovic will lose the Brazilian naturalized striker, and the burden of scoring for the national football team in the Asian Cup will fall on the shoulders of local players such as Wu Lei and Wei Shihao.
However, the refusal of naturalized players such as Luo Guofu to join the Chinese Super League is doubly embarrassing for the CFA. Originally, the FA had hoped that these players would return to the national team in order to enhance the overall competitiveness and achieve good results in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. However, the reality has given the FA a heavy blow. The FA must face up to the fact that the naturalization program has failed. In order to improve the level of Chinese soccer, the only way out is to strengthen the youth training from the root and cultivate excellent soccer talents.
