SAMUEL ETO'O FILS

Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o Fils (born 10 March 1981 in Douala) is a Cameroonian footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale and is currently serving as captain of the Cameroon national team.

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. As of June 2009, he is the joint 3rd highest goalscorer in Barça's history, along with Rivaldo. He is the second player (the first being Raúl) to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals.

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 two World Cups and five African Nations Cups (being champion twice), and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the African Nations Cup, with 16 goals.

Personal information

Full name Samuel Eto'o Fils
Date of birth 10 March 1981 (1981-03-10) (age 28)
Place of birth Douala, Cameroon
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Striker

Club information
Current club Internazionale
Number 9

Youth career
Kadji Sports Academy

Senior career*
Years Club Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Real Madrid 3 (1)
1997–1998 ? Leganés (loan) 28 (3)
1999 ? Espanyol (loan) 0 (0)
2000 ? Mallorca (loan) 13 (6)
2000–2004 Mallorca 120 (48)
2004–2009 FC Barcelona 145 (108)
2009– Internazionale 7 (3)

National team
1996– Cameroon 86 (41)



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 Segunda División B, where non-EU players are not allowed, and as a result he was loaned to second-division CD Leganés for the 1997-98 season. After making 30 appearances for the club and only scoring 4 goals, he returned to Madrid following the end of the 1997-98 season. In January 1999, he was loaned out to Espanyol,[5] but failed to make any appearances for the club.

2007–2009

Eto'o refused to come on as a substitute in a league match against Racing 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, FC 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 Internazionale, 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 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.

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 6 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.

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.


Honours

Real Madrid

* Intercontinental Cup
o Winner (1): 1998
* UEFA Champions League:
o Winner (1): 1999-00
Mallorca

* Copa del Rey:
o Winner (1): 2002-2003

FC Barcelona

* La Liga:
o Winner (3): 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09
* Supercopa de España:
o Winner (2): 2005–06, 2006–07
* UEFA Champions League:
o Winner (2): 2005-06, 2008-09
* Copa del Rey:
o Winner (1): 2008-09

International

* African Cup of Nations:
o Winner (2): 2000,2002
o Runner up (1): 2008
* Confederations Cup
o Runner up (1): 2003
* 2000 Summer Olympics
o Gold medal (1): 2000

Individual

* African Cup of Nations Top Scorer: 2006, 2008
* African Player of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005
* FIFPro World XI: 2004-05, 2005-06
* UEFA Champions League Best Forward: 2006
* UEFA Team of the Year: 2005, 2006
* Spanish La Liga Top Scorer: 2006
* World XI Striker: 2004-2005, 2005-2006
* Most Goals Scored In Domestic League RCD Mallorca: 54 Goals
* African Cup of Nations Top Scorer Of All Times: With 16 Goals
* Most Goals Scored In History Of Cameroon National Team
* FIFA World Player of the Year: Third Place: 2005