China's Naturalization of Felipe, a Gwangju native, is also pushed for naturalization
China's ambition to dream of the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America is heading for the expansion of naturalized players. 스포츠토토
The Branko Ivankovic administration chose to naturalize foreign players as one of the pillars to strengthen its power as it produced its own results with one win and one draw against Singapore in the second Asian qualifying round for the North-China World Cup in March.
This is compared to former coach Aleksandar Yankovic's exclusion of existing naturalized players from the Asian Cup.
According to local Chinese media such as Sohu Sports, coach Ivankovic seems to be pushing for four to five naturalizations.
The main characters include Brazilian Oscar (Shanghai High River), who has already been verified in the English Premier League (EPL), Pedro Delgado (Shandong Taishan), Zhou Dingyang, Felipe (Chengdu Longcheng), and Ryan Laposo (Vancuba White Caps).
Oscar has already filled the period of residence in China (more than five years) required to push for naturalization, but the rest of the players seem to have a mountain to climb in the process.
Delgado's history of leaving on loan to Abes, Portugal, in 2020 is a problem, and Zhou Ding has to solve her record of playing in A matches as a Taiwanese player before the age of 21. Laposo has no problem with naturalization because her mother is from China, but she has not expressed any other intention yet.
Of interest in Korea is Felipe. After playing for Gwangju FC for four years from 2018 to 2021, he was recognized as a killer instinct. Felipe left Gwangju City in the summer of 2021 to join the Chinese Super League club Chengdu Longcheng, and he is still an outstanding performer. He has scored 30 goals in 64 regular league matches over the past three years. Felipe was evaluated as a striker who is needed for the Chinese national team as he scored three goals (one assist) in six matches this year.
It is not clear whether Felipe will really wear the uniform of the Chinese national soccer team like other players. Felipe first stepped forward to China on July 6, 2021, when he will be eligible for naturalization on July 6, 2021. It is also unlikely that Felipe himself will be able to join the Chinese national team as he has not expressed his stance on naturalization.
However, the fact that China wants Felipe to become a naturalized citizen next year clearly shows his ambition to advance to the World Cup finals in North and Central America. Felipe will join the team at the same time as the final Asian qualifying round for the North and Central America World Cup.
Of course, if China wants to enjoy Felipe effect in the final Asian qualifying round for the North and Central America World Cup, it has to pass the second qualifying round. China, which is in Group C with South Korea, is ranking second, the Maginot Line for advancing to the final qualifying round with two wins, one draw and one loss as of four matches. With a three-point gap with Thailand (1 win, one draw and two losses), the outcome of its home showdown with Thailand on June 6 is expected to be crucial.