Naturalized Chinese striker Elkeson (left) runs in a training session on Wednesday in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Photo: IC

"Nihao, wo shi Elkeson." These were Guangzhou Evergrande striker Elkeson's first words to the assembled press at his first China national team camp media duties.

The reporters were waiting for him because the Brazil-born forward has become the first player eligible to play for Marcello Lippi's China side based on residency requirements.

Having signed for Guangzhou Evergrande in 2013 and stayed in the Chinese Super League since, the 30-year-old has more than fulfilled the five-year eligibility within FIFA rules.

Having not represented Brazil in a full international - the closest he came was a call-up to the squad in 2011 where he did not get off the bench - it was always a possibility that Elkeson could represent his second home but that was no guarantee.

China has never before naturalized a player without Chinese ancestry. Beijing Guoan's Nico Yennaris became the first naturalized player to represent the country in June but the former Arsenal trainee is Chinese on his mother's side. Li Ke, as Yennaris is known in China, represented England at youth level but chose to move to the Chinese Super League ahead of the 2019 season and was naturalized as a Chinese citizen in the process.

Yennaris was always eligible for England, where he was born and raised, as well as Cyprus through his father and China through his mother. He only had to naturalize as Chinese because China does not recognize dual nationals. In doing so he rubber-stamped his eligibility with FIFA.

Historymaker

Elkeson has no Chinese ancestry so his naturalization was less clear-cut. The former Brazilian became Chinese this summer after handing back his citizenship for the South American nation and taking up that of China.

Now he is expected to make history. The striker, known as Ai Kesen in Chinese, is in line to start for his adopted country as they make their first step on the road to the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

China's first game is against the Maldives in Malé, a game that they would be expected to win without the additional firepower of the Chinese Super League's record scorer.

Elkeson also reunites with his former strike partner at Shanghai SIPG, Wu Lei. The pair spent three seasons together at Shanghai Stadium, where they won the Chinese Super League last season, ending Guangzhou Evergrande's seven-year stranglehold on the title.

Wu left for Espanyol in the winter transfer window and has performed brightly in Spain. Elkeson picked up the goalscoring slack in Shanghai before returning to former club Guangzhou Evergrande, where he carried on where he had left off.

He has scored 15 goals in 23 games for the league leaders and, with seven games left, they look favorites to add an eighth title to the trophy cabinet at Tianhe Stadium this season.

There are hopes he won't stop there. Elkeson was key to Guangzhou Evergrande's first AFC Champions League win in 2013, becoming the first Chinese club to win it in its current format. The then Brazilian was front and center when they won it again in 2015. With the club in the quarterfinals and level going into their second leg with Japanese side Kashima Antlers, the dream is that there will be a third continental crown in the offing.

But before all that there is the matter of helping China to a second appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals. Their only appearance came at the 2002 tournament which was held in Japan and South Korea and while history was made, fans were left wanting more ­- China lost all three of their games and did not score a single goal.

Goals have long been at a premium for the Chinese national team, which was something Lippi mentioned during the AFC Asian Cup held in the UAE in January. The Italian subsequently left the post and was briefly replaced by interim manager Fabio Cannavaro before he answered the Chinese Football Association's call for a second time in May.

Lippi reportedly asked if the CFA would consider naturalized players representing the country in his attempt to secure a place at Qatar 2022. That policy began with Yennaris and is soon to be cemented with Elkeson. Lippi told reporters during recent training camps that he is open to considering anyone who is eligible to represent China - be that through ancestry or by fulfilling residency requirements.

Expectations 

Elkeson, meanwhile, told the media that he expects more to follow him.

"I believe there will be more players like me, who will be naturalized to help improve the results of China's men's national team," he told Reuters. "We believe as players that we will do everything we can to help the national team on the pitch."

Those that will follow are said to include his Evergrande teammate, Ricardo Goulart. The Brazilian is reported to be in the process of naturalizing and is expected to be eligible during the World Cup qualifying campaign, which concludes next June.

By that point, China will have played everyone in a group that they are expected to win. After the Maldives, China face Syria, Guam and the Philippines.

Elkeson is willing to shoulder that burden. "Of course, the support from the fans is very important too and it's important for me to play for the China national team in the future and to score for them and hopefully with this kind of performance I can return the love and help they've given me over the last few years."

His attitude is likely to win fans over but it is his goals that are more important to more than 1 billion people achieving their dream.