January 19, 2019, a memorable day in the history of Chinese soccer. On this day, Chinese soccer welcomed its first naturalized player. Beijing Guoan announced that it had brought in Norwegian-born Chinese player Hou Yongyong from Norwegian Super League side Stabaek. In order to represent Guoan as a domestic player, Hou Yongyong gave up his Norwegian nationality and joined the Chinese nationality.
This was followed by Chinese players of Chinese descent, Qian Jie Zi, Li Ke, Jiang Guangtai and Xiao Tao Tao, who took Chinese citizenship. Players without Chinese blood, such as Delgado, Ekerson, Lok Kwok Foo, Alan, Golat and Fernando, also acquired Chinese nationality after five years in China. In just one year, as many as 11 naturalized players have appeared in the Chinese league.
While Evergrande and other clubs naturalized players in a big way, many fans had optimistic expectations for the Chinese men's football team's prospects in the World Cup. However, the reality has been a blow to those naturalization supporters, and although non-Chinese faces have appeared in the national football team's lineup, there has not been any breakthrough in performance.
The Chinese men's soccer team, which has many naturalized players, has performed poorly in the World Cup qualifiers, with a record of only 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the first four matches of the group stage, and has already been shaken off by the top-ranked Syria by a body position. Among the players who are eligible to be selected for the Chinese men's soccer team, only Eckerson and Li Ke have been given the opportunity to play.
Li Ke is not a solid starter in Lippi's system, he is just a regular substitute in the team. And although Ackerson is the team's main striker, his performance is very flat, not showing a higher strength than his teammates. He made four appearances for the national soccer team in the World Qualification Tournament and scored three goals, but all three of those goals came against weaker teams such as the Maldives and Guam, while in the matches against the Philippines and Syria, Ackerson had a terrible performance and contributed nothing. Judging from his on-field performances in the two hard-fought matches, Aixon's athleticism is far worse than even that of his club teammate Wu Lei. It is unrealistic to expect Iverson to be the savior of the national football team.
A total of 10 naturalized players have completed registration in this season's Chinese Super League (Xiaotao Tao-tao is on loan to Chinese League One side Kunshan FC this season). Among them, Qian Jie gave and Delgado both lost the possibility of playing for the national soccer team because of their previous experience of representing other countries' national units in official competitions.
Among the remaining 8 players, Hou Yongyong's ability is not up to the standard of the national team; Luo Guofu is already old and at the end of the bench in Evergrande, so the possibility of these two becoming members of the national team in the future will not be very high. So only 6 of the naturalized players will be able to make it to the national team. Let's take a look at the status of these 6 players one by one:
Exxon (32):
A former two-time Chinese Super League Golden Boot winner, Aixon possesses a superb shot, but his athleticism has declined significantly with age, and his role and importance on the field has diminished.
Considering his age, this World Cup qualifier and the 2023 Asian Cup are likely to be his final performances with the national team. And his current physical condition and on-field performance dictate that he no longer has the fundamental ability to be the centerpiece of the team's frontcourt. The national team will still have to rely more on the efforts of others if they want to make a breakthrough in intercontinental competitions.
Gallagher (30):
Golat used to be the center of Evergrande's front field and won the honors of Chinese Super League Golden Boot, AFC Champions League Golden Goal, AFC Champions League Golden Boot, China's National Footballer of the Year and Asia's Best Foreign Aid, making him one of the best foreign aiders in the history of Evergrande. He is technically excellent and possesses good organizational talent and scoring ability.
However, Gallagher suffered a knee injury at the end of the 2018 season, and there were rumors that a large portion of the meniscus in his right knee was removed. While the news may not be true, his embodiment of the Chinese Super League last season shows that he has lost his impact and explosiveness, and now plays entirely on his skills and awareness on the field. Although these abilities are still good now, it is clear that he is far less capable than he was back then, and even if he is selected for the national team, the contribution he can make to the team will be very limited.
Li Ke (28):
Li is a defensive midfielder, one-on-one defensive ability, good defensive awareness, and has a certain ability to organize the chain. But in the national team and the national team many times he was used as a workhorse type midfielder, which also affects his play and restricts his ability.
But even when the tactical organization doesn't suit him, he still manages to perform better. Considering his age and talent, it should still be relatively easy for him to be shortlisted in the national team's matches in the next few years, but the time for him to come in as a starter may not be too much. Combined with the current equipment of the national team, his improvement of the overall strength of the national team is also relatively limited.
Mrs. Chiang Kwang (24):
Jiang Guangtai plays as a center back on the field, and he has excellent physical and athletic qualities, so he's guaranteed to be no slouch against the vast majority of frontcourt players.
His ability should be at the front of the line among center backs in all of Asia. Even in Japan, South Korea and Australia, with Jiang Guangtai's current strength, he has a chance to enter their national team list. Considering Jiang Guangtai's age, he should be the absolute mainstay of the national football team in the next few years, the center of the backline.
Allan (32):
Despite being around the same age as Ickxon, Alan seems to be in a far better position than Ickxon. Last season Alan was extremely effective for Beijing Guoan despite not playing a lot of minutes, and had a very good shot on goal. He still has the ability to create a threat up front.
But given Alan's age, this World Cup qualifier and the 2023 Asian Cup will likely be his final performances with the national team as well.
Fernando (28):
Fernando has lost some speed and explosiveness after suffering a major injury in 2018, but for now Fernando is still probably the most impactful wing player on the offensive end for the national team. Fernando also performed reasonably well for Guangzhou Evergrande last season, making a definite impression in a number of games.
Considering his age, it shouldn't be a problem for him to make the national team roster for the next few years. However, his characteristics also dictate that he may not get a start in every game.
Summary: It can be seen that the above six naturalized players may be selected for the national team, in addition to Jiang Guangtai's unique ability far beyond the domestic players, the ability of the other several people is not actually too much stronger than domestic players. Even if these 6 are likely to play at the same time, the strength of the national football team is far from several Asian powerhouses, not to mention the World Cup.
The national football team in order to quickly achieve results, in 2019 chose to naturalize many players this "shortcut", but only two years, this "shortcut" has been declared a failure. This failure is based on the super-high salary of the dozen or so players, as well as being despised by other Asian countries. According to recent reports, Luo Guofu, who is not playing for Evergrande, has decided to return to Brazil after his contract ends. None of the other naturalized players speak Chinese, and with the exception of Alan, who is still trying to learn the language, none of the players have even shown any sense of belonging. This kind of naturalization is a joke.
