Samuel Eto'o biography
Samuel Eto’o, in full Samuel Eto’o Fils, (born March 10, 1981, Nkon, Cameroon), Cameroonian skilled soccer (soccer) participant who is taken into account one of many biggest African footballers of all time.
Eto’o attended the Kadji Sports Academy in Douala, Cameroon, and first got here to nationwide prominence whereas enjoying for UCB Douala, a second-division membership, within the 1996 Cup of Cameroon. At solely 16 years of age, he caught the eye of Real Madrid—one of many high groups in Europe—who signed him in 1997, although Eto’o noticed little enjoying time. Nor did he see a lot motion after becoming a member of Cameroon when it certified for the 1998 World Cup however faltered within the first spherical.
Eto’o made his title enjoying for Cameroon through the 2000 African Cup of Nations, the place he scored 4 instances, together with a vital objective within the Indomitable Lions’ gold-medal victory over Nigeria. His spectacular play continued on the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the place Cameroon defeated Spain for the primary Olympic gold in its historical past. In the Olympic last, with the Indomitable Lions going through a 2–0 deficit within the second half, Eto’o and teammate Patrick Mboma led the comeback with two targets, forcing further time. After Eto’o’s obvious objective within the last seconds of additional time was referred to as again owing to an offside penalty, the sport went into penalty kicks, during which Cameroon prevailed.
Eto’o was lent out to various groups by Real Madrid till 2000, when he signed with Real Mallorca of the Spanish League; his $6.3 million contract was the biggest quantity paid by the membership on the time. Internationally, he guided Cameroon to a second African Cup of Nations title and a World Cup berth in 2002. While Eto’o was a powerful participant for Mallorca—he grew to become the membership’s all-time main objective scorer—his staff was nonetheless thought of under the highest tier of European soccer, and he was lured to the powerhouse membership FC Barcelona in 2004.
Eto’o continued his stellar play in Barcelona. He received his document third consecutive African Player of the Year award in 2005, and Barcelona received Spanish first-division championships in 2005 and 2006 in addition to the Champions League in 2006. In 2008 he grew to become the all-time main scorer in African Cup of Nations historical past as he helped Cameroon to an look within the event last (a loss to Egypt). Eto’o led Barcelona to a historic season in 2009, when the membership captured its first “treble” by profitable the nationwide first-division title, Spain’s main home cup (Copa del Rey), and the continental championship (Champions League). At the top of the season, Eto’o was transferred to Inter Milan. He helped Inter win the 2010 Champions League title, and he was the membership’s main scorer with 37 targets through the 2010–11 soccer season.
In 2011 Eto’o was transferred to the Russian staff Anzhi Makhachkala, receiving what was reported to be one of many richest contracts in soccer historical past within the course of. He signed a one-year settlement with Chelsea FC of the English Premier League in 2013. Eto’o moved to Everton the next yr however appeared in simply 20 matches with the membership earlier than he was transferred to Sampdoria of the Italian Serie A league in January 2015. Later that yr he signed a three-year contract with Antalyaspor of the Turkish Süper Lig. In January 2018 he moved to a different Süper Lig membership, Konyaspor. However, in August Eto’o left the staff, and later that month he signed with Qatar SC. He retired the next yr.
In worldwide play, Eto’o scored two targets on the 2010 African Cup of Nations event, bringing his scoring document for that occasion as much as 18 targets and serving to to earn him African Player of the Year honours a fourth time. He additionally helped Cameroon qualify for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, although the staff did not win a match in both look. In August 2014 Eto’o retired from worldwide competitors.