Russia’s national team boss Fabio Capello has stated that the country should limit the number of foreign players being allowed in the domestic leagues in order to benefit the national team. Russia has seen a tremendous growth in the number of foreign players due to the wealth of its club owners. They have managed to bring in star names like Hulk on massive transfer fees and wages. This has been detrimental to the national team, as there has been a reduction in the number of top players available for selection.
Capello, who had a tough time in naming the provisional squad, says that the exponential growth of the foreign players has not translated into better quality Russian players. Russia still possesses a number of star names like Andrei Arshavin, but the presence of high-quality international players has shunted his growth. This has led to the former Arsenal star being left out of the squad. Russia will be going into the World Cup with a real chance of making it into the knockout stages, but Capello has warned his team and fans of complacency.
Belgium, Algeria, and Japan will be the opponents for Russia at this tournament. Capello has had only one World Cup in his managerial career and he was knocked out of the quarter-finals with England.
“Of course we have a plan and we will try new approaches to solve the problem. I’ve asked that there be more limits on foreign players in the Premier League to force the clubs to use more local players. We also need to expand the Premiership from 16 to 18 teams to get more Russian footballers involved in league matches. It’s difficult to work with players who are ignorant of foreign languages. Sometimes you need to cheer up the team, to get the players worked up,” said Capello.