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Samuel Eto'o

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Samuel Eto'o
Samuel 2011.jpg
Eto'o in 2011.
Personal information
Full name Samuel Eto'o Fils
Date of birth (1981-03-10) 10 March 1981
Place of birth Douala, Cameroon
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Anzhi Makhachkala
Number 9
Youth career
1992–1997 Kadji Sports Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1997–2000 Real Madrid 3 (0)
1997–1998 → Leganés (loan) 30 (4)
1999 → Espanyol (loan) 0 (0)
2000 → Mallorca (loan) 19 (6)
2000–2004 Mallorca 120 (48)
2004–2009 Barcelona 145 (108)
2009–2011 Internazionale 67 (33)
2011– Anzhi Makhachkala 47 (23)
National team‡
2000 Cameroon U-23 6 (1)
1997– Cameroon 112 (55)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 May 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:25, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Samuel Eto'o Fils (French pronunciation: ​ [samɥɛl eto fis]) (born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian footballer who plays as a striker for Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy. He also holds a Spanish passport, enabling him not to count among the "foreign players" working in the European Union. Eto'o is believed to be, at the present moment, the highest earning footballer in the world, at £350,000 per week under his current contract.

Eto'o scored over 100 goals in five seasons with 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 Inter Milan. 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.

As a member of the Cameroon national team, Eto'o was a part of the squad that won the 2000 Olympic tournament. He has also 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

Real Madrid

Samuel Eto'o joined Real Madrid in 1997, but he could only train with Real Madrid B, as he was still a minor. Real Madrid B were relegated to the third tier, Segunda División B, where non-European Union players are not allowed, and as a result, he was loaned to second-division CD Leganés for the 1997–98 season, when he was only in the tenth grade. After making 30 appearances for the club and only scoring four goals, he returned to Madrid following the end of the 1998–99 season. In January 1999, he was loaned out to RCD Espanyol, but failed to make any appearances for the club.

Mallorca

The next season, in the winter transfer window, he transferred to La Liga team RCD Mallorca on loan, scoring six goals in 19 games. At the end of the season, Eto'o left Real Madrid, signing a permanent deal with RCD Mallorca for a club record £4.4 million fee. In his second season, he scored 11 goals and began to garner attention throughout the league. Mallorca President Mateo Alemany said of his style of play, "I doubt if there is any other player in the world who would please the fans more at this moment." Eto'o himself commented on his rise to stardom, "I like it here in Mallorca; I have always been well looked after, the fans appreciate me and I also have a contract that runs until 2007." He returned the fans' appreciation when he donated €30,000 in meals to travelling Mallorca supporters who made the journey to the Copa del Rey final against Recreativo de Huelva in 2003. Mallorca won the match 3–0, with Eto'o scoring two late goals to seal the victory. His volatile attitude, however, resulted in several off-pitch incidents. Bartolome Terrassa, a television journalist, filed a formal complaint after a run-in with Eto'o in the club's parking lot, accusing the player of saying, "The next time, you are not going to escape; I'm going to kill you." This was not the first incident, however, as the previous year, Eto'o's former agent, Daniel Argibeaut, accused the player of assaulting him with four accomplices, saying, "They then took off my shoes, which in Cameroon means I am threatened with death."

Barcelona

2004–2007

Eto'o playing for Barcelona

Eto'o departed Mallorca as the club's all-time leading domestic league scorer (54 goals) when he signed for FC Barcelona in the summer of 2004 for a transfer fee of €24 million, after lengthy, three-way negotiations with Mallorca and Madrid. Initially, Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez wanted to buy back the full transfer rights and loan him out again, but eventually the Barcelona deal proved lucrative enough to warrant a sale. Additionally, the team already had its full quota of three non-EU players.

Eto'o made his Barcelona debut in the season opener at Racing de Santander on 29 August 2004. After Barcelona won the 2004–05 La Liga title, the team organized a festive party in the Camp Nou, during which Eto'o harangued the fans chanting, "Madrid, cabrón, saluda al campeón" (English: Madrid, salute the champions). The Royal Spanish Football Federation fined Eto'o €12,000 for his comments, for which he later apologized. He expressed regret and asked for forgiveness from Real Madrid, his first professional team. The head of the Real Madrid fan club federation remained unimpressed, however, stating, "This character is a fantastic player, but he leaves a lot to be desired as a person." He signed an improved contract with Barcelona in June 2005.

After missing out on the previous year's Pichichi trophy, which is given to the topscorer in La Liga, Eto'o edged out Valencia CF striker David Villa for the award during the final matchday on 20 May 2006 when he scored his 26th goal of the season against Athletic Bilbao. Eto'o was very gracious to teammates after the game saying, "It has been a team effort although only one person gets the award. We've worked hard all season and have got our just rewards."

Eto'o also contributed six goals during Barcelona's run to the 2005–06 Champions League title. In the final, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off early on for bringing down Eto'o just outside of the penalty area, but the Catalans struggled to capitalize on their one-man advantage until Eto'o scored the game-tying goal in the second half. Barcelona went on to win the match 2–1, and Eto'o was awarded with the UEFA Best Forward of the Year award for his accomplishments in the European campaign.

Eto'o also won an historic third consecutive African Player of the Year award that season. He said in his acceptance speech, "Above all, I dedicate this to all the children of Africa." He was also selected to his second straight FIFPro World XI and finished third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year, making him only the second African footballer ever to be voted into the top three.

The season started badly for Eto'o, as he ruptured the meniscus in his right knee during Barcelona's Champions League group stage match against Werder Bremen on 27 September 2006. Barcelona team physician Ricard Pruna originally estimated that the injury would keep him out of action for two to three months. After the operation, Eto'o's recovery time was extended to five months, but he resumed training with Barcelona in early January 2007.

Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona defended by Patrice Evra of Manchester United

2007–2009

Eto'o refused to come on as a substitute in a league match against Racing de Santander on 11 February 2007. Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard said after the match, "He did not want to come on; I don't know why." Ronaldinho was critical of Eto'o's actions, saying that Eto'o was not putting the team first, but Eto'o rebutted the comment, claiming that he did not come on because he did not have enough time to warm up properly. Three months later, Eto'o said, "These kind of things are usually just speculation and don't come through to me. However, if it is true that I am a problem for my team then I will go. But like I said, I am happy here. The press can write what they want." Following the comments, Barcelona President Joan Laporta was quick to quash rumours of transfers involving Eto'o and Ronaldinho.

After aggravating a meniscus injury on 28 August during a summer friendly against Inter Milan, Eto'o was sidelined indefinitely. On 17 October, in the midst of his recovery period, he gained Spanish citizenship. He was cleared to play again on 4 December, and returned to the side a week later in Barcelona's 2–1 league win over Deportivo de La Coruña.

Eto'o recorded his first league hat-trick in a match against UD Levante on 24 February 2008. He finished with a total of 16 league goals in 18 appearances for the season. On 25 October, he recorded the fastest hat-trick in club history after netting three times in 23 minutes in a victory over UD Almería. Only two games later, on 8 November 2008, Eto'o scored four goals in the first half of Barcelona's game against Real Valladolid, which ended 6–0.

On 29 November 2008, he scored his 111th career Barcelona goal in all competitions in a 3–0 road win over Sevilla FC, moving him into the club's top ten all-time goalscorers.

On 14 February 2009, he scored his 99th and his 100th league goals for Barcelona in a 2–2 draw with Real Betis. Eto'o scored his 30th goal of the 2008–09 season in a La Liga match against Real Valladolid. The game ended 1–0 and meant that Barcelona kept a six-point lead over Real Madrid in the league. He also scored against Villarreal CF in the game that put Barcelona one point away from lifting the 2008–09 La Liga trophy.

Eto'o scored the opening goal in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United. Barcelona went on to win the final 2–0, thus completing the Treble.

Inter Milan

Eto’o playing for Inter Milan in 2009.

After Maxwell completed the transfer from Inter Milan, Joan Laporta confirmed that there was an agreement in principle between Barcelona and Inter Milan for Zlatan Ibrahimović to join the club in exchange for Eto'o and €46 million. After Ibrahimović agreed terms with Barcelona, the club announced Eto'o would travel to Milan for his medical to complete the transfer.

On 27 July 2009, Eto'o passed his medical and signed for five years with Inter. On his first press-conference in Milan, he declared that he was where he wanted to be and refused to compare himself to Ibrahimović saying, "I'm Samuel Eto'o and I don't want to compare myself to anyone. I believe the victories I have earned up to now can contribute to giving the right value to my name." On 8 August, Eto'o scored his first competitive goal for Inter, in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana. Two weeks later, Eto'o scored from the penalty spot against Bari in his first Serie A match. In the following match, the Derby della Madonnina, Eto'o won Inter a penalty, after being brought down by Gennaro Gattuso in the box. Gattuso was yellow carded and eventually sent off. Eto'o scored again on 13 September against Parma, his first goal from open play in a Serie A match.

At the end of September 2009, Eto'o demanded almost £2.75 million from Barcelona after his transfer to Inter. The amount represented 15% of the US$29 million (£17.7 million) fee which Inter paid Barcelona in July 2009. The demand was based on a Spanish rule that a player should get 15% of the amount of his transfer to another Spanish club. If the parties failed to reach a solution, the matter could go to court.

Eto'o scored two goals during a thrilling win over Palermo which ended 5–3, with a brace also being scored by Mario Balotelli. Eto'o also scored in the Champions League Round of 16 against Chelsea, in the second leg, on 16 March 2010, which allowed Inter to progress to the quarter-finals. On 5 May, Eto'o and his teammates helped Inter to lift the Italian Cup after defeating Roma 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Inter's goal was scored by Argentina's Diego Milito.

On 22 May 2010, Eto'o played in the third Champions League final of his career, and with Inter Milan's triumph over Bayern Munich, he became the only player to win the treble in consecutive seasons.

On 21 August 2010, Eto'o scored twice as Inter Milan beat Roma 3–1 to win the Italian SuperCup. His first hat trick for Inter Milan occurred in the UEFA Champions League against the German team Werder Bremen on 29 September 2010. Inter Milan won the game 4–0, with Eto'o saying, "We will remain humble because we know that there are sides out there that are better than us, so we will just take it one match at a time and we will go as far as it takes us".

Eto'o with Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011

Continuing his outstanding form in Serie A and in the Champions League for the 2010–11 campaign, he was pivotal to Inter Milan's attack line. On 16 March 2011, Eto'o gave a legendary performance in Munich as he helped Inter Milan eliminate Bayern Munich 3–2 (with an aggregate score of 3–3, winning on away goals) in the Champions League. Eto'o scored the first goal after four minutes into play, as well as provided two clinical assists to Wesley Sneijder and to Goran Pandev for the winner. After the game, Inter President Massimo Moratti said, "I'm not sure if the deal that brought Eto'o to the club was my best piece of transfer business ever, but I really think it was a great piece of business for us. Eto'o is fantastic. I do not want to take anything away from Ibrahimovic, but for everyone it was really a great deal to get Eto'o. Samuel is truly extraordinary." On 29 May, Eto'o scored two goals in the final of the Italian Cup against Palermo to help Inter Milan win 3–1 and taking his total season goals to 37, a new record high for him.

Anzhi Makhachkala

On 23 August 2011, Anzhi Makhachkala reached an agreement with Inter Milan to sign Eto'o in a three-year deal that made him the world's highest paid player, with a salary of €20 million after tax per season. Eto'o made his debut for Anzhi on 27 August 2011 against FC Rostov when he came on as a substitute with 30 minutes to go in the game and scored an equalizer in the 80th minute from a cross by Yuri Zhirkov. Eto'o scored the opening goal in an entertaining 5–3 defeat at home to CSKA Moscow leaving his side four points above Krasnodar with only two games left for qualification to the Championship Group.

International career

Eto'o playing for Cameroon

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 penalty shootout 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 quarter-finals 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 14th 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 lead 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 1 December 2009, Eto'o finished fifth in voting for the Ballon d'Or, which was won by his former Barcelona 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.

On 16 December 2011, Eto'o was suspended for fifteen games by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football, after the team refused to play a friendly against Algeria earlier this year. The ban was reduced to eight months in January 2012, meaning Eto'o will only miss four competitive matches. The change was brought about after Cameroon president Paul Biya asked officials to reconsider the controversial sanction.

On 27 August 2012, Eto'o was in the squad to face Cape Verde in the first leg of a qualification play-off for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but the striker refused to play, as a protest against what he described as the "amateurish and poorly organised" national team set-up. After an intervention from the country's Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, Eto'o agreed to return for the second leg. However, Eto'o's return was not enough for Cameroon to overturn a 0–2 first leg deficit, and the Indomitable Lions failed to qualify for the Cup of Nations.

On 23 March 2013, Eto'o scored his first goal for Cameroon in 16 months with a penalty kick against Togo in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. He went on to score an 82nd minute winning goal in the same match, sending Cameroon to the top of their qualifying group.

International goals

Source:

Personal life

Eto'o has two brothers: David, who plays for FC Koper in Slovenia, and Étienne, who plays for FC Lustenau. Eto'o has four children: Maelle, Étienne, Siena and Lynn. He married his longtime sweetheart Georgette on 6 July 2007. They have two children together: Siena, and Lynn who both live along with Georgette in Paris, France.

Earnings

Samuel Eto'o is the world's second highest earning athlete (second to Tiger Woods) and the highest paid footballer in the world, (followed by Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and Zlatan Ibrahimović of Paris Saint-Germain.) raking in £35.7 million (over $54 million) a year excluding off-field earnings.

Racism

Eto'o has experienced racial abuse in some away matches. Eto'o, along with former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry, Angers defender Marco Zoro, and Mario Balotelli, have reacted by being outspoken in their criticism and threatening to leave the pitch.

In February 2005, during an away match with Real Zaragoza, Eto'o was the subject of racist taunts by Zaragoza supporters, who began making monkey-like chants onto the pitch whenever he had possession of the ball. The referee, however, Fernando Carmona Méndez, made no mention of the incidents in his match report, commenting only that the behaviour of the crowd was "normal"; two of the abusers were caught and given five-month sporting-event bans after being identified to police by other spectators. Eto'o later declared that the punishment was insufficient and that La Romareda should have been closed for at least one year, but Frank Rijkaard told him to concentrate on football and to stop talking about the incident. Infuriated again by Zaragoza fans' racist chants the next season, however, Eto'o attempted to walk off the pitch in protest. His teammates intervened and convinced him to continue playing. Video of the incident captured him saying "No más" ("No more") as he walked to the sidelines.

On 17 October 2010, in a Serie A game against Cagliari, after just three minutes of play, the referee halted the match to give a warning to the Cagliari fans for their racist chants, which were directed towards Eto'o. After the play was resumed, the rest of the stadium chanted loudly in an attempt to drown out the racist chants in order for the match to not to be stopped. Inter went on to win 1–0 thanks to an Eto'o goal in the 39th minute.

Due to ongoing racism from La Liga crowds, Eto'o stopped bringing family members to matches. "It is something that has affected me personally. I think players, leaders, and the media have to join forces so that no one feels looked down upon because of the colour of their skin. At this moment in time I prefer my children don't go to football matches. In the stands they have to listen to things that are difficult to explain to a child. It is better they aren't exposed to it."

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 April 2013.
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Real Madrid 1998–99 1 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 1 0 -
Total 1 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 1 0 -
Espanyol 1998–99 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 -
Total 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 - 0 0 -
Real Madrid 1999–2000 2 0 - 0 0 - 3 0 - 5 0 -
Total 2 0 - 0 0 - 3 0 - 5 0 -
Mallorca 1999–2000 13 6 - 0 0 - - - - 13 6 -
2000–01 28 11 - 5 2 - - - - 33 13 -
2001–02 30 6 - 1 1 - 9 3 - 40 10 -
2002–03 32 14 - 6 5 - 0 0 - 38 19 -
2003–04 32 17 - 2 0 - 7 4 - 41 21 -
Total 135 54 - 14 8 - 16 7 - 165 69 -
Barcelona 2004–05 37 25 6 1 0 0 7 4 0 45 29 6
2005–06 35 26 5 2 2 0 11 6 4 48 34 9
2006–07 19 11 8 4 1 0 4 1 3 27 13 11
2007–08 18 16 3 4 0 0 7 1 0 29 17 3
2008–09 36 30 4 4 0 0 12 6 2 52 36 6
Total 145 108 26 14 4 0 41 18 9 201 129 35
Inter Milan 2009–10 32 12 5 3 2 0 13 2 2 48 16 7
2010–11 35 21 9 7 8 1 11 8 5 53 37 15
Total 67 33 14 10 10 1 24 10 7 101 53 22
Anzhi Makhachkala 2011–12 22 13 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 23 13 6
2012–13 20 7 5 1 1 0 16 9 3 33 16 8
Total 42 20 11 2 1 0 16 9 3 60 30 14
Career total 392 215 51 40 23 1 100 44 19 535 284 71

International

Cameroon national team
Year Apps Goals
1997 3 0
1998 5 0
1999 1 0
2000 9 5
2001 9 2
2002 13 5
2003 7 2
2004 9 4
2005 6 1
2006 5 5
2007 3 1
2008 11 11
2009 8 5
2010 12 8
2011 9 4
2012 2 0
2013 1 2
Total 112 55

Honours

Club

Mallorca
  • Copa del Rey (1): 2003
Barcelona
  • La Liga (3): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
  • Copa del Rey (1): 2009
  • Supercopa de España (2): 2005, 2006
  • UEFA Champions League (2): 2005–06, 2008–09
Inter Milan
  • Serie A (1): 2009–10
  • Coppa Italia (2): 2010, 2011
  • 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
  • LG Cup (1): 2011
Cameroon Olympic Team

Individual

  • African Player of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010
  • Pichichi Trophy: 2006
  • UEFA Club Forward of the Year: 2006
  • FIFA Club World Cup – Golden Ball 2010
  • 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Third
  • Young African Player of the Year: 2000
  • ESM Team of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
  • FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2006
  • UEFA Team of the Year: 2005, 2006
  • African Cup of Nations Top Scorer: 2006, 2008
  • African Cup of Nations All-Time Top Scorer
  • RCD Mallorca All-Time Top Scorer
  • Cameroon All-Time Top Scorer
  • UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match 2006
  • CAF Starting XI in the Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2006
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