Former U20 Brazilian star naturalized as Indonesian: Breaking the curse or repeating the same mistake?

TPO - Ciro Alves had quite an impressive record before becoming an Indonesian citizen. However, at the age of 36, the Brazilian striker could easily make the same mistake as many other players who were naturalized after shining in the Indonesian league.

According to Bola, Ciro Alves is about to complete his Indonesian citizenship. The Brazilian-born striker will be naturalized as an Indonesian citizen after residing in Indonesia for more than 5 years. Indonesian media calls Alves the most notable player among the players who are about to be eligible to contribute to the national team, promising to bring new vitality.

Alves played for the Brazilian U20 team and won the runner-up position at the 2009 U20 World Cup. He has played for 13 clubs from the Brazilian national league to Thailand and Indonesia. Currently, Alves plays for Malut United and maintains a good form at the age of 36. In the 2025/26 season, Alves scored 4 goals in 5 matches in the Indonesian domestic league.

The Malut United striker is the next case to be naturalized in Indonesia from Liga 1. Previously, many strikers with impressive scoring efficiency in the Indonesian league were naturalized, joined the national team with great expectations but could not show much. The most notable case is IIija Spasojevic.

Spasojevic has won the Liga 1 Golden Boot many times, so he has received great expectations from Indonesian fans. However, since joining the national team, this striker has only played for Indonesia in 10 matches, scored 5 goals and gradually disappeared.

lija Spasojevic was once Indonesia's hope and disappointment.

After Spasojevic, Indonesia continued to naturalize Alberto Goncalves, Greg Nwokolo and Christian Gonzales. Gonzales has been the best performer among the naturalized Indonesian players after shining in the domestic league, but things have not exploded yet.

Indonesia's naturalization policy will only be truly effective when the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) expands its scope, looking for quality players of mixed blood in the world . Since September 2024, a series of players of Dutch origin have been called up by coach Shin Tae-yong, helping the Indonesian team "transform" and compete fiercely for a place in the 2026 World Cup.

Recently, President Erick Thohir outlined three important short-term and long-term goals for the Indonesian team. In the short term, Indonesia needs to make its mark at the 2027 Asian Cup and enter the top 100 FIFA rankings. After that, the archipelago team aims for the opportunity to participate in the World Cup for the first time in 2030.

To implement that strategy, Indonesia continues to search for and naturalize quality players with mixed blood, and at the same time find more sources of naturalized players playing in the Indonesian league. PSSI is promoting the appointment of a new coach who meets all important factors such as understanding Indonesian football, Asian football and being qualified enough to work with naturalized players playing abroad.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/cuu-sao-u20-brazil-nhap-tich-indonesia-pha-dop-hay-di-vao-vet-xe-do-post1794109.tpo