Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o Fils (French pronunciation: [samɥɛl eto fis]) (born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team. Eto’o trained at Kadji Sports Academy. He also holds a Spanish passport to enable him not to count among the “foreign players” in the European Union.
Eto’o scored over 100 goals in five seasons with FC Barcelona, and is also the record holder in number of appearances by an African player in La Liga. In 2010, he became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Internazionale. He is the second player to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams. He is the most decorated African player of all time having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010. He is the first ever player to win two trebles back to back.
As a member of the Cameroon national team, he was a part of the squad that won the 2000 Olympic tournament; he has participated in three World Cups and six African Nations Cups (being champion twice) and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the African Nations Cup, with 18 goals.
Club career
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–2000 | Real Madrid | 3 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | → Leganés (loan) | 28 | (3) |
| 1999 | → Espanyol (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2000 | → Mallorca (loan) | 19 | (6) |
| 2000–2004 | Mallorca | 133 | (54) |
| 2004–2009 | Barcelona | 145 | (108) |
| 2009– | Internazionale | 51 | (27) |
- As of 06 February 2011
International career
Eto’o earned his first cap with Cameroon one day before his 16th birthday on 9 March 1997, in a 5–0 friendly loss to Costa Rica. In 1998, he was the youngest participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup when he appeared in a 3–0 group stage loss to Italy on 17 June 1998, at the age of 17 years and three months. Eto’o scored his sole goal of the 2002 World Cup when he netted the game-winner against Saudi Arabia during the group stage on 6 June 2002, which was Cameroon’s only win of the competition.
Eto’o was a part of the squads that won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, and was a gold medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which Cameroon finished as runners-up, he scored his only goal in a 1–0 group-stage upset of Brazil on 19 June. Cameroon were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations after Eto’o missed the decisive penalty in a 12–11 shoot-out loss to Côte d’Ivoire following a 1–1 draw, but he nonetheless finished as the top scorer of the tournament with five goals. He missed a team practice before the quarterfinals to attend the CAF African Footballer of the Year award ceremonies in Togo.
In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Eto’o became joint leading goalscorer (along with Laurent Pokou) in the competition’s history after scoring his fourteenth goal with a penalty against Zambia on 26 January 2008. In the following game against Sudan on 30 January, Eto’o converted another penalty to become the tournament’s all time leading scorer, followed by another goal in the same match that took his Cup of Nations tally to 16. He finished as the top scorer for the second consecutive tournament, matching his 2006 total of five goals.
On 1 June 2008, Eto’o headbutted reporter Philippe Bony, following an incident at a press conference. Bony suffered an injury, but Eto’o later apologized for the altercation, offering to pay Bony’s medical expenses.
In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Gabon, Eto’o scored a goal in the 68th minute. He followed it up with another goal in the home fixture. He now leads the scoring chart with eight qualification goals. Eto’o scored in the World Cup Qualification match against Morocco to win Cameroon a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.
On Tuesday 1 December 2009 Eto’o came in 5th for the Ballon d’Or, which was taken by his former teammate Lionel Messi.
On 19 June 2010, Eto’o scored a goal in Cameroon’s 2010 World Cup group stage match against Denmark, from a mistake by Christian Poulsen. Cameroon eventually lost the game 2–1 and was eliminated from the World Cup. Eto’o described it as the biggest disappointment of his career. In December 2010, Eto’o became the first man to be named African Player of the Year for a fourth time.
Personal life
Eto’o has two brothers: David, who plays for Kadji Sports Academy in the MTN Elite One league in Cameroon, and Étienne, who is currently on loan to Pobla de Mafumet CF from Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Eto’o married his longtime sweetheart Georgette on 6 July 2007. They have three children together: Étienne, Maelle, and Siena, who all live along with Georgette in Paris, France.
Honours
Club
- Real Madrid
- UEFA Champions League (1): 1999–00
- Mallorca
- Copa del Rey (1): 2003
- Barcelona
- La Liga (3): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
- Copa del Rey (1): 2009
- Supercopa de España (3): 2005, 2006
- UEFA Champions League (2): 2005–06, 2008–09
- Internazionale
- Serie A (1): 2009–10
- Coppa Italia (1): 2010
- Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2010
- UEFA Champions League (1): 2009–10
- FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2010
International
- Cameroon
- African Cup of Nations (2): 2000, 2002
- Cameroon Olympic Team
- Olympic Gold Medal (1): 2000
Individual
- Young African Player of the Year: 2000
- African Player of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010
- FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2006
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2005, 2006
- African Cup of Nations Top Scorer: 2006, 2008
- UEFA Champions League Best Forward: 2006
- La Liga Top Scorer: 2006
- African Cup of Nations All-Time Top Scorer
- RCD Mallorca All-Time Top Scorer
- Cameroon All-Time Top Scorer
- 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Third
- UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match 2006
- FIFA Club World Cup – Golden Ball 2010
- CAF Starting XI in the Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2006