Kelechi Emeteole (1951 – 21 June 2017) was a Nigerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He was part of the Nigeria national team in the

1976 African Cup of Nations The 1976 African Cup of Nations was the tenth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The format of competition changed from 1974: the field of eight teams was still split into tw ...

hosted at Ethiopia. Throughout his career, he had been coach of various teams like

Heartland F.C. Heartland Football Club founded as Spartans F.C., later known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale from 1985 to 2006 is a Nigerian football club based in Owerri. The team play their home games at Dan Anyiam Stadium (but currently use the new Okigwe Stadium ...

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team. They are based in Enugu and play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one of the three olde ...

El-Kanemi Warriors F.C. El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club is a football team based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. They play at El-Kanemi Stadium. They ended their 2005, season in the lower half of the Nigeria Premier League.They were relegated to the Nigeria Divis ...

and the national beach soccer team.

Playing career

Emeteole played 17 matches for the Nigeria football team scoring four goals from 1975 to 1977. He was part of the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

at the

where Nigeria won

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

medal. He was popularly called as '

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

' for his "rugged defensive style".

Coaching career

Emeteole was assistant coach of the

Super Eagles The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in men's international football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners, with their most recent title in 2013. In April 1994, t ...

team and head coach of the

and the national beach soccer team. He coached the beach soccer team, known as Super Sand Eagles from 2007 to 2009. While he was

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now called Heartland FC) in 2009, the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

reached the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

finals. In April 2017, angry mob had attacked Emeteole, who was then coach of the team Enugu Rangers, after they had lost a match. He was sacked as coach in May 2015 where he was in charge for three months. He was hired as coach by El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in August 2015.

Health issues and death

Emeteole reported loss of voice after the last match between El Kanemi Warriors and Heartland Football Club of

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...

in December

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. He had faced similar issues before. In January 2016 the Federal government of the United States">Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Playing career

Coaching career

Health issues and death

References