A report by South Korean media outlet Sportal Korea points out that despite the setbacks to the country's naturalization strategy, there is still a strong belief that the path of naturalization could still be the way to success for Chinese soccer.
Former national football coach Lippi remains positive about the naturalization strategy in a recent interview. Despite the fact that the country's soccer failed to win a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after the introduction of naturalized players, there are still voices arguing that homegrown players alone are no longer enough to bring the national football team back to the World Cup stage.
In 2019, Lippi led the national football team to a 0-3 defeat to Iran at the Asian Cup in the UAE, after which he chose to resign. After leaving the national team, Lippi instead made his return to the national football team conditional on asking for naturalized players to join him. However, after a 1-2 defeat against Syria in the 40-team tournament, Lippi left the team again and waved goodbye to the national soccer team.
Our country's soccer still has five naturalized players as its core strength: Ackerson, Jiang Guangtai, Alan, Fernando and Luo Guofu. However, in the 10 matches of the 12-team tournament, they have only achieved one win, three draws and six losses, and their ambitions to hit the World Cup have suffered another blow.
In my country, the pros, cons and continuity of the naturalization strategy are still under intense discussion. However, Lippi is convinced that the naturalization strategy should continue, stating, "I firmly believe that naturalized players will play a key role in the future of the national football team. But we must get rid of the thinking that only seeks short-term benefits. I ask for a more systematic selection of naturalized players so that we can really improve our strength. With a population of over one billion, China has a huge potential for naturalized players and plenty of room for selection."
