From left: Li Ke, Luo Guofu, Ai Kesen Photo: VCG

 

Last week saw a historic ­Chinese men's national football team training camp in Shanghai, where the 28-man squad met from October 4 to 9.

This was not because it was the first meeting since the coronavirus pandemic brought the Asian FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 tournament - matches that the Asian Football Confederation have ruled will not be played until next year - but because it was the first call-up for two new faces.

Those were Guangzhou Evergrande pair Jiang Guangtai and Fei Nanduo, players who are more commonly known by their non-­Chinese names: Tyias Browning and Fernandinho.

Center back Browning was born in Liverpool and came through the academy at local club Everton. Browning represented England up to under-21 level and played on loan at Wigan Athletic, Preston North End and Sunderland before moving to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2019. He qualifies for China through his grandparents.

Meanwhile, Brazil-born winger Fernandinho arrived at Chinese Super League (CSL) side Chong­qing Lifan in 2015. He moved to the champions last year but saw out the 2019 CSL season on loan at Hebei China Fortune. He qualifies based on residency.

Both players have impressed this season and the newcomers are among the latest naturalized players to become available to be called up for the Chinese national team, along with Alan Carvalho (A Lan), Aloisio (Luo Guofu) and John Hou Saeter (Hou Yongyong).

Browning and Fernandinho follow Beijing Guoan's Li Ke and their Guangzhou Evergrande clubmate Ai Kesen into the national setup.

Naturalizing footballers to become Chinese citizens is a process that first came to light at the start of the 2019 season when reports emerged that Beijing Guoan were attempting to naturalize Li - also known as Nico Yennaris - and Hou Saeter.

That was a success and other clubs, notably the deposed champions Guangzhou Evergrande who had lost their CSL title to Shanghai SIPG in the 2018 season. More clubs and players have followed since and Li Tie has called up four to a China squad for the first time.

Some domestic media outlets reported that was all he could pick from the current pool of seven eligible players, with a quota in place. The former Everton defender was quick to dismiss that when he spoke to the press at the camp in midweek.

"I have never heard of any restrictions - three, four, five?" the China boss told reporters.

"For me, there are two criteria for recruiting naturalized players. The first is to be qualified to represent the Chinese team. The second very important point is that they are willing to represent the national team."

He said that his new recruits did just that. "In fact, these two newcomers to the team have a very good performance in the league first, and I have communicated with them before. Both of them have a strong desire to play for the Chinese team."

Not everyone has been happy about the naturalization policy, with vocal criticism on social media that it is a slippery slope. Officials from the CFA have been quick to point out that is not the intention.

"We will not let two-thirds of the national team's lineup be Brazilian naturalized players," Chinese Football Association Secretary-General Liu Yi said. "We will recruit two or three, or maybe three or four Brazilian naturalized players. That's it."

Earlier, CFA Chairman Chen Xuyuan - who had been opposed to naturalization when he was Shanghai SIPG chairman - had spoken in stronger terms.

"From the bottom of my heart, I hope it is just a small episode of a stage, let it pass. This [naturalization] will not become the norm, it will not become the theme, it will not be like some of our fans said that the 11 players in our country are all naturalized, which is absolutely impossible."

Still, in the short term, there are others who will be eligible to naturalize on residency soon and to be considered for selection should they choose to play for China.

Alex Teixeira of Jiangsu Suning arrived in China during the free-spending days of the 2016 transfer window. New FIFA regulations mean that the Brazilian would be allowed to transfer his eligibility to China as he only played for Brazil's under-20 side.

Several other CSL players are also coming up to reaching the five-year residency requirement for those players who do not have Chinese ancestry.

Ricardo Goulart, who has also naturalized and is known in China as Guo Late, is not yet eligible to represent his new country because FIFA does not recognize his residency as uninterrupted because of a loan spell back in his native Brazil with Palmeiras.

Another player who will have to wait for a call-up is Pedro Delgado, who became the first footballer to naturalize as Chinese despite not having reached the five-year residency mark or having Chinese ancestry within three generations that FIFA demands.

The former Portuguese youth international became known as De'erjiaduo when he moved to Shandong Luneng in 2018 but then he moved on loan to Portugal with Desportivo das Aves in February.

Even Oscar, the star Shanghai SIPG midfielder, indicated that should the rules ever change then he would be more than willing to help China out.

"As far as I can, I can think about," Oscar told CGTN. "It's difficult to go to Brazil national team now because I'm here, but in China everyone sees how good I play.

"If in the end, if the China national team need one good midfielder, so I can help if they change. I like China but I think the players now, if they go to change the nationality to go to China, they can do better also."

Right now that is not possible as he has played almost 50 times for Brazil, though not since 2018's World Cup failure in Russia.

How China would like the opportunity to appear at another World Cup. That is the priority and a reminder why the naturalized players have been called up to camp that took place over the 19th anniversary of China's so far sole qualification for a World Cup.