Samuel Eto'o Fils is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021.
64 Facts About Samuel Eto'o
2.
Samuel Eto'o is the second player in history to score in two UEFA Champions League finals.
3.
At Barcelona, Samuel Eto'o came in third for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2005 and was twice named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI, in 2005 and 2006.
4.
Samuel Eto'o is the fourth player in Champions League history, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa, and Gerard Pique, to have won the trophy two years in a row with different teams.
5.
Samuel Eto'o won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002.
6.
Samuel Eto'o has participated in four World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations.
7.
Samuel Eto'o is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 18 goals, and is Cameroon's all-time leading scorer and third most capped player, with 56 goals in 118 caps.
8.
Samuel Eto'o announced his retirement from international football in August 2014.
9.
Samuel Eto'o made his Barcelona debut in the season opener at Racing de Santander on 29 August 2004.
10.
Samuel Eto'o expressed regret and asked for forgiveness from Real Madrid, his first professional team.
11.
Samuel Eto'o won an historic third consecutive African Player of the Year award that season.
12.
Samuel Eto'o refused to come on as a substitute in a league match against Racing de Santander on 11 February 2007.
13.
Samuel Eto'o recorded his first league hat-trick in a match against Levante on 24 February 2008.
14.
Samuel Eto'o finished with a total of 16 league goals in 18 appearances for the season.
15.
Samuel Eto'o scored 30 goals in the season, finishing second in the Pichichi Trophy goalscorers list behind Atletico de Madrid's Diego Forlan.
16.
Samuel Eto'o scored the opening goal in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final against Manchester United.
17.
On 27 July 2009, Samuel Eto'o passed his medical and signed for five years with Inter.
18.
Two weeks later, Samuel Eto'o scored from the penalty spot against Bari in his first Serie A match.
19.
On 1 December 2009, Samuel Eto'o finished fifth in voting for the Ballon d'Or, which was won by his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi.
20.
Samuel Eto'o scored the first goal after four minutes, and provided two clinical assists to Wesley Sneijder and to Goran Pandev for the winner.
21.
On 25 August 2011, Samuel Eto'o announced his departure from Inter Milan via an open letter to the fans.
22.
Samuel Eto'o made his debut for Anzhi on 27 August 2011 against Rostov when he came on as a substitute with 30 minutes left in the game, later scoring an equalizer in the 80th minute from a cross by Yuri Zhirkov.
23.
On 29 August 2013, Samuel Eto'o signed a one-year deal with English Premier League club Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.
24.
Samuel Eto'o scored his first goal for Chelsea on 19 October 2013 against Cardiff City, in which he gave Chelsea the lead.
25.
Samuel Eto'o stated that he wanted to win the UEFA Europa League with Everton, a tournament which he had never won before.
26.
However, Samuel Eto'o left halfway through his first season at Everton, having scored four goals in 20 games across all competitions for them.
27.
On 27 January 2015, Samuel Eto'o returned to the Italian Serie A, joining Sampdoria on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
28.
On 25 June 2015, Samuel Eto'o moved to Turkish side Antalyaspor on a three-year contract.
29.
Samuel Eto'o continued in this capacity until Jose Morais was hired as Simsek's permanent replacement on 6 January 2016.
30.
On 31 January 2018, after leaving Antalyaspor by mutual consent, Samuel Eto'o joined league rivals Konyaspor on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
31.
On 7 September 2019, Samuel Eto'o announced his retirement from football.
32.
Samuel Eto'o scored his sole goal of the 2002 FIFA 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.
33.
Samuel 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.
34.
Samuel Eto'o missed a team practice before the quarter-finals to attend the CAF African Footballer of the Year award ceremonies in Togo.
35.
Samuel Eto'o finished as the top scorer for the second consecutive tournament, matching his 2006 total of five goals.
36.
On 1 June 2008, Samuel Eto'o headbutted reporter Philippe Bony following an incident at a press conference.
37.
Bony suffered an injury, but Samuel Eto'o later apologized for the altercation, offering to pay Bony's medical expenses.
38.
Samuel Eto'o followed it up with another goal in the home fixture.
39.
Samuel Eto'o led the scoring chart with eight qualification goals.
40.
Samuel Eto'o scored in the World Cup qualification match against Morocco to win Cameroon a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.
41.
On 19 June 2010, Samuel Eto'o scored a goal in Cameroon's 2010 World Cup group stage match against Denmark, from a mistake by Christian Poulsen.
42.
Samuel Eto'o described it as the biggest disappointment of his career.
43.
In December 2010, Samuel Eto'o became the first man to be named African Player of the Year for a fourth time.
44.
On 16 December 2011, Samuel Eto'o was suspended 15 games by the Cameroonian Football Federation, after the team refused to play a friendly against Algeria earlier in the year.
45.
On 27 August 2012, Samuel 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.
46.
On 23 March 2013, Samuel Eto'o scored his first goal for Cameroon in 16 months with a penalty kick against Togo in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.
47.
Samuel Eto'o went on to score an 82nd minute winning goal in the same match, sending Cameroon to the top of their qualifying group.
48.
In June 2014, Samuel Eto'o was selected in Cameroon's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, becoming the third African to participate in four tournaments after compatriots Jacques Songo'o and Rigobert Song.
49.
Samuel Eto'o was a fast, strong, and energetic forward, who was known for his stamina, work-rate, ability in the air, and his accurate finishing ability both with his head and feet.
50.
Samuel Eto'o has been renowned for his leadership, opportunism and mentality throughout his career.
51.
Samuel Eto'o is often ranked among the three greatest African strikers, alongside George Weah and Didier Drogba.
52.
Beyond his speed and goalscoring, Samuel Eto'o was known for his first touch, close control, and passing ability in his prime; even in his advancing age, he maintained his dribbling skills in his later career, which he used to his advantage to beat defenders and assist or create chances for teammates.
53.
On 11 December 2021, Samuel Eto'o was elected President of the Cameroon Football Federation.
54.
Samuel Eto'o was appointed Ambassador of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
55.
Samuel Eto'o was crowned paramount chief in Kaffu Bullom, a chiefdom in Sierra Leone in November 2015.
56.
Samuel Eto'o was visiting Sierra Leone as part of the FIFA "11 for Health and 11 against Ebola" programme in the country.
57.
Samuel Eto'o made his first steps in the district of Mvog-Ada, one of the most deprived of the Cameroonian capital.
58.
Samuel Eto'o has two brothers who are footballers: David and Etienne.
59.
Samuel Eto'o married his longtime sweetheart Georgette on 6 July 2007.
60.
Samuel Eto'o experienced racial abuse in some away matches during his career.
61.
Samuel Eto'o is one of several high-profile contemporary players to have reacted to the abuse by threatening to leave the pitch and being outspoken in criticism of their experiences.
62.
In February 2005, during an away match with Real Zaragoza, Samuel 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.
63.
Samuel Eto'o later declared that the punishment was insufficient and that La Romareda should have been closed for at least one year, but his manager Frank Rijkaard, of Surinamese origin, told him to concentrate on football and stop talking about the incident.
64.
Samuel Eto'o's teammates intervened and convinced him to continue playing.