By Eddie Akalonu
Former coach of both the national Beach Eagles and Heartland Football Club, Kelechi ‘Caterpillar’ Emeteole, has welcomed Samson Siasia’s  moves to give playing space to local league players in the national team.

Coach Emeteole known for his bluntness on issues concerning the country’s football told Saturday Vanguard sport he expects that local players would “shock the foreign ones in the fight to pick- up shirts in the national team.

“Siasia has started on a right note. It’s what we have been clamoring for with the belief that it would help change the attitude and renew spirit of players to play for the country as it was in years past when we played,” he stated.

He added that “ I know  players from the local league will like to raise their level to disprove the view held about them by administrators and Nigerians in general. Having a mixture of  local and foreign players will stir up stiff competition and raise our game because there are really local players who are far better than those playing abroad but only yearning for a call-up to prove themselves.

League players who earn national team shirts are the ones who will be ready to die for the country on the field,” the former Spartans of Owerri player and coach said. It would be recalled that Emeteole, who won have won the Nigeria Premier league title with Enyimba, has also to his credit consecutive African Nation Championship titles with the Beach Eagles and prosecuted both Beach World Cups without the injection of foreign players before quitting the national team.

His profile rose further two seasons ago when he piloted  Heartland FC to the final of the CAF Champions League and lost to current holders T.P Mazembe of Congo. He took the team the following season to the Champions league stage before parting ways with the team.

“Composition of the national team with a due percentage of our league players will help reduce the lackadaisical attitude of the established players.

“In the past, many of us got disgusted by the attitude of some of our foreign based colleagues  in the national team. Players you see every week fight to finish for their foreign clubs do differently when they put on our national colour.