Guangzhou Evergrande comes to mind when we think of "raising soldiers for the country". The team has dominated the Chinese Super League (CSL), winning the title 8 times in 11 years, and the AFC Champions League (AFC) in 2013 and 2015, which is the top league in Asia. They have not only made history in the Chinese Super League, but have also risen to become the giants of Asian soccer.
However, Guangzhou Evergrande has paid a high price behind its splendor. In the golden age of Chinese Super League, they were one step ahead, introduced world-class foreign aid, hoarded international players, and almost set the advantageous resources of Chinese soccer in one, and the miracle was born. Evergrande at its peak, the player lineup is comparable to half of the national football team. As a result, the saying that "Chinese soccer relies on Evergrande" has been spreading, and international players at Evergrande have performed brilliantly, with good competitive status, and even played in higher level competitions such as the AFC Champions League and the World Cup.
However, as the 85-89 age group players step into their prime, the state of decline, the strength of young players failed to supplement in time, the problem of talent fault highlights. The performance of the national team is inversely proportional to the performance of Evergrande. On the one hand, the national team can introduce foreign aid, but the national football team is unable to do so, which makes the performance of the national team sharply downward.
It is in this context, "Chinese soccer relies on Evergrande" calls are rising, Evergrande also unhesitatingly assume the responsibility. 2018 summer, the football association opened the naturalization era, Evergrande initiative to take on the heavy responsibility, began to re-naturalize the players. Aixon, Gaolat, Luo Guofu and a number of naturalized players joined Evergrande, and some of them were even selected for the national team.
In order to cultivate naturalized players for the national team, Evergrande had to reduce the number of foreign aid quota, Cannavaro in the press conference, a sentence "for the country to raise soldiers" triggered heated debate. Although this move has sacrificed the competitiveness of the club, the original intention of cultivating talents for the national team can be realized.
Unfortunately, the national football team with naturalized players did not achieve the desired results in the Top 12 tournament, and Guangzhou Evergrande terminated the contracts of all naturalized players due to financial problems. Most of the naturalized players left the Chinese Super League (CSL), marking the failure of China's attempt to naturalize soccer. Evergrande's "raising soldiers for the country" seems to have lost its value.
However, one year later, Guangzhou Evergrande's "Raising Soldiers for the Nation" seems to have taken a turn for the worse, as Chengdu Rongcheng has taken the sign in the 2022 Chinese Super League. Recently, a number of media reported that Evergrande's former naturalized player and former national football star center forward Aixon will soon return to China to join Chengdu Rongcheng. This marks the return of the naturalized player who left from Evergrande to be invited by the Rongcheng team.
One of the main reasons why the Hibiscus team invited Eckerson to return is to help him return to the national soccer team to prepare for the Asian Cup. This once again triggered the discussion of "raising a soldier for the country". As a promoted team, Rongcheng finished fifth in the league, thanks to the outstanding performance of young players such as Hu and Mutalifu, who are regarded as the stars of tomorrow in Chinese soccer.
Do you think the Chengdu Hibiscus business is worth it? Will Exxon be able to return to the Nationals upon his return? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section!
