Recently, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) unveiled its lineup for the Asian Cup, but accidentally omitted naturalized players of non-native origin such as Eckerson, Fernando, Allan and Luo Guofu, a decision that seems to signal their farewell to the national team. Observing the recent situation of these naturalized players, Alain returned to the country after few opportunities to play, and has been released from the original club contract; Fernando returned to the Chinese Super League to join the Taishan, but failed to secure a starting position; Aickerson in Chengdu's goal scoring efficiency is good, but always in front of the door of the national team mute, which may be the key to their inability to participate in consecutive World Cup qualifying matches and the Asian Cup.
Among the naturalized players, Luo Guofu has been the most eye-catching. He is currently playing for the Brazilian club Minero Americano. Last season, Luo Guofu scored goals in back-to-back matches for Minero Americas. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury and missed most of the season in the Barclays Premier League. According to the Brazilian media, in September, several Chinese Super League teams extended an olive branch to Luo Guofu, hoping that he would return to the Chinese Super League after the expiration of his contract. Many Chinese fans expect Luo Guofu to find his former style in the Chinese Super League, and make new achievements for the national team to improve the offensive firepower of the national football team. However, unfortunately, Luo Guofu declined the invitation from the Chinese Super League team, and plans to continue to extend his contract with Club America Mineiro, or explore other opportunities in the Brazilian league.
In my opinion, Luo Guofu's decision reflects that naturalized players have reservations about the overall level and competitiveness of the Chinese Super League. They prefer to maintain their competitive status in a high-level league, and naturalized players like Luo Guofu, who have reaped the rewards of the Golden Dollar era, are not pursuing financial gain by playing for the national football team. In fact, the relationship between the naturalized players and the national football team is more of an employment relationship, and they do not have enough identification with the Chinese culture and the level of the local players. Without the drive for financial gain, they would probably never play for the national soccer team. Luo Guofu's refusal means that national football coach Jankovic will lose the Brazilian naturalized striker in the Asian Cup, and the burden of scoring goals for the national football team will fall on the shoulders of local players such as Wu Lei and Wei Shihao.
However, Luo Guofu and other naturalized players have put the CFA in an awkward position by refusing offers from Chinese Super League teams. 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. However, the reality has given the FA a resounding slap in the face. The FA must now wake up and realize that the naturalization program has failed. If you want to improve the level of Chinese soccer, the only way to start is to strengthen the training of young people and cultivate outstanding soccer talent, which is the only way for the development of Chinese soccer.
