At the beginning of the new year, the latest training list for the national football team has been released. The list includes a total of 32 players, but whether they will all be present remains to be seen, as a well-known football journalist revealed that one player's participation in the training is still uncertain!
Beijing Guoan has the most players on the training list with a total of 7, followed by Shanghai Shenhua with 6. Surprisingly, Shanghai Port, the league champions, only have 2 players selected, which is somewhat unexpected. Concerned players such as Serginho and Oscar are not on the list, and among the 32-man squad, there is only one naturalized player, Fernandinho. Alan was not called up, while Jiang Guangtai is injured and will continue to rest, just like Wu Lei.
Unfortunately, as the only naturalized player selected, Fernandinho may also miss the training. Fernandinho, along with Elkeson, was one of the first batch of naturalized players and was highly anticipated by fans. The main reasons were that Fernandinho was at the right age and his playing style suited the national team's defensive counter-attacking tactics. Although the then head coach Li Tie had various reasons for not being interested in naturalized players, Fernandinho always found excuses to avoid wearing the national team jersey and participating in matches. Throughout the Qatar World Cup qualifiers, Fernandinho did not make it onto the national team roster even once. Even if he did, he would find various reasons to back out.
Although Fernandinho is also Brazilian, his sense of belonging is far less strong than that of Luo Guofu, Alan, and Elkeson. Fernandinho's character was exposed after his transfer to Guangzhou Evergrande. It was thought that after the failure to qualify for Qatar, Fernandinho would not return to the Chinese Super League. However, for unknown reasons, whether it was because he had spent almost all his money or for other reasons, Fernandinho returned to the Chinese Super League and joined Shandong Taishan. Under the leadership of Choi Kang-hee, Fernandinho caused trouble again and eventually managed to join Shanghai Shenhua.
In the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, Fernandinho did play a few games for the national team, but his performance could only be described as average, falling short of fans' expectations, as if there was no fuel left in the tank. Fernandinho also tends to be selfish when playing for the national team, unwilling to share the ball with his teammates. Despite this, his name is still on the training list.
Football journalist Ma Dexing stated that although Fernandinho is on the list, whether he can smoothly participate in the national team's training is still uncertain. The reason is that after the end of his loan period with Shanghai Shenhua, his new club has yet to be determined. Given Fernandinho's personality, he is likely to enjoy his vacation before his new club is confirmed. If no Chinese Super League team is willing to offer him an olive branch, it would be wishful thinking to expect him to represent the national team. Fans understand this, as it is his usual style!