China call up Brazil-born player Serginho for W’Cup qualifiers

China have included Brazil-born midfielder Serginho in their squad for crucial World Cup qualifiers, less than a week after he obtained Chinese citizenship.

In recent years China’s struggling national team has followed some other countries by turning to naturalised players, with limited impact on results.

Also named in Branko Ivankovic’s 27-man squad is Liverpool-born former England youth international defender Tyias Browning, now called Jiang Guangtai.

Serginho, known in China as Sai Erjiniao, obtained citizenship on March 12 and played his first minutes for the national team in a closed-doors friendly against Kuwait on Sunday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The 30-year-old, whose birth name is Sergio Oliveira, has played in China since 2020.

China are away at Saudi Arabia on Thursday and home to Australia on Tuesday next week as they battle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

They are bottom of their group on six points but only trail Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on goal difference, with Australia one point ahead. Japan lead the group on 16 points.

The top two will qualify automatically while the third and fourth-placed teams enter another qualifying round.

Serginho began his senior career at Brazilian club Santos, before moving to Japan’s Kashima Antlers in 2018.

He joined Changchun Yatai in 2020, scoring 30 goals in 100 appearances, before leaving for their Chinese Super League rivals Beijing Guoan in February.

Teenage prospects Wang Yudong and Liu Chengyu are also in the squad selected by Croatian head coach Ivankovic.

Brazil-born players Elkeson, Alan and Fernandinho, who had been regular performers for China, were not included in the latest squad.

China are ranked 90th in the world and have only qualified for the World Cup once, in 2002, when they failed to earn a point or score a goal.

AFP