Recently, China's Football Association (FA) unveiled the list of Asian Cup preparations, however, those non-blood naturalized players, such as Ixon, Fernando, Alan and Luo Guofu, etc., were not called up without exception, and it seems that they will say goodbye to the national team. Observing their recent situation, Alan has rarely appeared after returning home and has terminated his contract with his old employer; Fernando has returned to the Chinese Super League to join Taishan, but has failed to steadily occupy a starting position; Ackerson's goal-scoring efficiency in Chengdu is still acceptable, but the goal drought at the national team level seems to be the key to his failure to qualify for consecutive World Cup qualifying matches and the Asian Cup.
Among this group of naturalized players, Luo Guofu is in the most outstanding form. Currently, he is playing for the Brazilian club Minero America. Last season, Luo Guofu made a big splash in the Minero Americas team, breaking through the goals in consecutive matches. But unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury and missed half of the season in the Barclays Premier League. According to the Brazilian media, a Chinese Super League team invited Lok Guofu to return to the Chinese Super League after his contract expired in September this year. Many Chinese fans expected Lok Guofu to regain his form in the Chinese Super League and to play for the national team again, just like Iverson, to improve the team's attacking power. However, unfortunately, Luo Guofu declined the offer and chose to continue his contract with Club America Mineiro or consider joining another Brazilian league.
On a personal note, Luo Guofu's refusal reflects the naturalized players' skepticism towards the overall level and competitiveness of the Chinese Super League. They prefer to maintain their competitive status in a high-level league. Naturalized international players like Luo Guofu have been earning good money since the golden era of the Chinese Super League and do not need to play for the national football team in order to earn a living. In reality, the relationship between the naturalized players and the national football team is more of an employment relationship, and they don't identify enough with the Chinese culture and the level of Chinese players. Unless the financial benefits are attractive enough, they may not play for the national soccer team for the rest of their lives. Luo Guofu's refusal means that the national football manager Jankovic will lose the Brazilian naturalized striker, and the burden of scoring goals in the Asian Cup may 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 Chinese Super League teams has put the CFA in an awkward position. Originally, the FA expected them to return to the national team to improve the team's competitiveness and achieve good results in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. But the reality has given the FA a punch in the face. The FA must face up to the failure of the naturalization program. If you want to improve the level of Chinese soccer, the only way is to strengthen youth training and cultivate outstanding soccer talents.
