Unexpectedly, Zeca suffered an injury curse shortly after joining the Taishan team, which prevented him from suiting up and playing for the team. Many Shandong fans began to regret that they would have chosen to bring in John Carlos if they had known that Zeca was so fragile. John Carlos managed to lead the team out of the relegation quagmire in the Central League during his time with the Liaoning Ironmen.
With the dream of hitting the Chinese Super League, Liaoning initially fought hard for the goal of promotion this season. However, under immense pressure, Liaoning did not show the expected strong fighting spirit, but instead suffered successive losses on the battlefield. As a result, they took the plunge and brought in top scorer João Carlos, expecting him to put a new face on Liaoning and lead the team out of their predicament.
