Samuel Eto’o (born March 10, 1981 in Douala, Cameroon) is a professional footballer, who currently plays in the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (La Liga) in Spain for FC Barcelona. He is a distinguished forward who is known for his outstanding positional awareness, speed, and finishing. His talents have made him a leading scorer for both club and country and one of the world’s best strikers.
He was named African Footballer of the Year in 2003, 2004, and 2005, making him the first player to win the award three years in succession since it has been handed out by the Confederation of African Football. He was recently named as one of the strikers for the FIFPro World XI team for the second consecutive year. His younger brothers David and Etienne are also professional footballers.
After joining Real Madrid in 1996 and playing on the nursery team, Eto’o was loaned to second division CD Leganés for the 1997-1998 season. Eto’o found a way out of his frustration in the second division after performing well on his loan to RCD Mallorca. In the 2000-2001 season with Mallorca, Eto’o’s second with the team, he was able to score 11 goals in La Liga play and began to garner praise throughout the league. Of his entertaining style of play, Mallorca club president Mateo Alemany said, “I doubt if there is any other player in the world who would please the fans more at this moment.” Such strong performances prompted Mallorca to sign Eto’o at the end of the season to a club record, $6.3m (£4.4m) fee. samuel ETO@O is a pure player and everybody on merseyside would love to see him be a red next season!!!!
During his time with RCD Mallorca, Eto’o became the highest ever league goal scorer in the history of the club, with 54 goals, including 14 and 17 apiece in his last two seasons. Such quality play transformed Eto’o into a hero amongst Mallorca supporters who made his replica shirt the best selling item in the Mallorca club souvenir shop. Eto’o enjoyed his rise to stardom saying, “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.” Eto’o showed his appreciation and generosity to fans when he paid 30,000 euros on a meal for Mallorca supporters who made the journey to watch Mallorca’s Spanish Cup final against Recreativo Huelva in 2003. However, despite Eto’o’s fame amongst fans, his volatile attitude erupted in a several incidents off the field. A Spanish reporter covering Mallorca named Bartolome Terrassa filed a formal complaint with the police after a run in with Eto’o in the club parking lot. Terrassa accused Eto’o of saying, “The next time you are not going to escape, I’m going to kill you” towards the end of their dispute. Eto’o’s former agent, Daniel Argibeaut, also accused Eto’o of poor behaviour in 2002.
Argibeaut claimed Eto’o headbutted him and attacked him alongside four accomplices, saying “They then took of my shoes, which in Cameroon means I am threatened with death.” However, Eto’o’s strong play overshadowed any off-field troubles, and he signed for FC Barcelona in the summer of 2004 for a transfer fee of €24 million after a long series of three-way negotiations with Mallorca and Real Madrid. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said that Eto’o was not needed as they already had Ronaldo and Raúl signed as strikers. Eto’o made his debut for Barcelona in the first game of the season at Ràcing Santander, on August 29, 2004.
Samuel Eto’o was described in 2006 by football pundit Tommy Smyth as one of the best pure strikers in the world. He is known for his quick pace and agility on and off the ball and an ability to score equally well with both feet as well as his head. His style of play is characteristically daring and he often runs at defenders and goalkeepers with total confidence in his ability to get the ball past them. Because of his slight frame, Eto’o relies on nimbleness and timing rather than strength to score, and he frequently scores on the first touch after running onto well-placed through balls. He has also been known to use a move in which he passes the ball to himself high over the opposing goalkeeper before running around him, settling the pass, and scoring.
Under Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, Eto’o has played as the central striker as well as on either wing in an attempt to stymie teams who man-mark the Barça front three. Eto’o has adapted very well to the wing positions and has created numerous goals for his team mates while simultaneously scoring a lot of goals himself. In 2005/06 season he became the first player since the 1990 season to score 50 goals over 2 seasons in La Liga.
Eto’o is seen as defensively sound, applying pressure on the ball when his team are not in possession[11]. And the trust Rijkaard placed in his striker’s defensive capabilities was evident when he shifted Eto’o to the left flank in the 05/06 Champions League semi-final against Milan to counter the attacking threat of Cafu .
