New national football team roster announced: Shao Jiayi also engages in favoritism; Fan Zhiyi's son-in-law selected despite not playing

The latest national football team training camp roster has been released, as shown in the image above, with multiple U23 national team players included. This reflects a positive shift towards younger squad renewal. Li Hao is absent due to a rib injury. Shanghai Port contributes the most players, with five selections; Shanghai Shenhua and Chengdu Rongcheng each have four players included. However, this roster has sparked significant controversy due to one individual, leading fans to exclaim that Shao Jiayi is also playing the favoritism game, because Fan Zhiyi's son-in-law, Shanghai Shenhua substitute goalkeeperMa Zhenhas been selected.

Fans know that both Shao Jiayi and Fan Zhiyi are legends of Chinese football, both veterans who competed in the 2002 World Cup, and former national team teammates. Fans also know that Ma Zhen is Fan Zhiyi's son-in-law. If Ma Zhen were a strong player, his selection to the national team training camp would be normal. However, Ma Zhen has not played at all for Shanghai Shenhua this season, with zero appearances. This has sparked heated discussion among fans: even Shanghai Shenhua's main goalkeeper Xue Qinghao cannot make the national team training camp roster, so how can Ma Zhen, who isn't even playing, be selected? Is it solely because he is Fan Zhiyi's son-in-law? With Shao Jiayi now leading the national team, Chinese football still cannot escape the culture of favoritism!

A positive update for the national team is that they finally have official international matches to play during the March international match window, organized by FIFA. This time, the national team's opponents are Curaçao and Cameroon. One notable point is that Curaçao's star player, Chen Dalei, was previously rumored to be a naturalization target for the national team. It should be clarified here: Chen Dalei is a fourth-generation Chinese descendant and cannot follow the ancestral naturalization path like Jiang Guangtai; he would require the foreign naturalization route, which demands living in China for five years. Therefore, rumors about the national team naturalizing Chen Dalei are merely speculation and practically impossible to execute.