Fernando, a naturalized player who transited in the Netherlands, did not take a flight to Japan, but took a leave of absence from the national football team on the grounds that an important member of the family had a health crisis, and turned around and flew back to Brazil. In October 2019, Fernando got his Chinese passport. On September 29, 2020, Fernando was selected for the national football training list for the first time. Although it has been more than two years since his naturalization, Fernando has not yet played in any competition for the national football team.
This morning Beijing time, Fernando posted on social media, saying that he could not play in the next two World Preliminary Round of 12 due to the health problems of his family members, thanking the Chinese Football Association for its understanding and consent. Subsequently, the national football team issued an official announcement: at 10:30 local time on the 24th in Japan, two members of the team, Alain and Luo Guofu, arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport by Dutch flight and will meet with the national team after obtaining normal nucleic acid test results. During his transfer in Amsterdam, Fernando learned of health problems with his family members and applied to return to Brazil. After the approval of the national team coaching staff, Fernando has taken the opportunity to return to Brazil and will regret missing this competition. The Chinese men's national football team will conduct its first training session after arriving in Japan at 16:00 local time.
On the morning of January 22, Beijing time, Luo Guofu, Alain and Fernando departed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and embarked on a journey to Tokyo, Japan. When they flew to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to connect, they were told that flight KL861 from Amsterdam to Japan, which was scheduled to depart at 14:35 local time on January 22, was temporarily cancelled by the airline, and the Football Association changed the flight from Amsterdam to Japan on the 23rd for the 3 people.
About 4 hours before the departure of the rebooking flight, Fernando contacted the national football coaching team and said that he had received a positive news from his family that he was positive for nucleic acid, and he did not feel very comfortable. It is reported that Fernando was more emotional when he contacted the national football team. In view of the situation at that time, the national football team agreed to Fernando's return to Brazil.
Fernando is one of the most favored naturalized players. He is fast, has a very strong ability to fight alone, and is under 30 years old, which is the golden age of the player. In the past two years, the national football team has been called up many times, but his record of playing for the national football team is still zero. When he first played for the Guangzhou team, Fernando was fined 3 million yuan for violating the rules of the team. Since leaving the team and returning to Brazil in late May last year, Fernando has not played an official tournament for more than half a year. Just on social media, you can always see his cozy vacation photos.