TOKYO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese national football team announced on Monday that naturalized forward Fei Nanduo has returned to Brazil due to family reasons and will not play in the team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Vietnam.
Another two Brazilian-born Chinese internationals Luo Guofu and A Lan arrived at Tokyo Narita airport on Monday morning and will join the team, who reached Japan on Sunday.
"During the layover in Amsterdam, Fei Nando learned of his family members' health problem and applied to return to Brazil. After the discussion and approval of the national team coaching team, he has returned to Brazil and will unfortunately miss the following games," read a team statement.
Luo, A Lan and Fei planned to arrive in Japan on January 23, but they had been stuck in Amsterdam airport for nearly 24 hours due to a flight cancellation.
China is scheduled to play against Japan in Tokyo on January 27, and then meets Vietnam in Hanoi on February 1.
The 29-year-old Fei has missed all the previous 2022 World Cup qualifying games of the Chinese team due to injury. Luo, who picked up two yellow cards in previous games, has been suspended for the game against Japan.
With four games remaining in the final round of the Asian qualifiers, China now ranks fifth in the six-team Group B with five points and still has a glimmer of hope to make it into the 2022 World Cup. ■
