Samuel Eto'o Biography
Samuel Eto'o Fils (born March 10, 1981 in Nkon, Cameroon) is a football striker, who currently plays for Barcelona. 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 will not be heading to the World Cup, after Cameroon crashed out to lowly Togo in the qualifiers.
Prior to joining Barcelona in 2004, Eto'o spent most of his career on the books of Real Madrid, although he only played in three league games in his six years under contract. Instead, the last four and a half of those years were spent on loan with Real Mallorca. In 2003 he and his teammates lifted the King's Cup after defeating Recreativo de Huelva.At the age of 17, Eto'o was the youngest player at the 1998 World Cup when he suited for Cameroon against Italy. He then played in the 2002 edition. Eto'o won three major tournaments with his country: the 2000 and 2002 African Nations Cups, as well as the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
His signing with Barcelona was very controversial as Real Madrid owned half of his contract and had preference over his signing. However, he was turned down by chairman Florentino Pérez, who argued that he already had the best two strikers in the league (Ronaldo and Raúl) and that there was no place for another non-European Union player. The contract release was signed after paying 24 million euros, of which half was for Mallorca. Real's loss has been Barca's gain - Samuel Eto'o has proven to be a world-class acquisition, helping Barcelona to the 2004/2005 Spanish La Liga title and being the team's top scorer with a final figure of 24 goals, just one short of top scorer Diego Forlán. He also finished in third-place of voting for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year award; coming behind his Barcelona teammate Ronaldinho and Chelsea F.C. midfielder Frank Lampard.
In 2006, Eto'o missed his penalty shot in the quarter-final of the 2006 African Cup of Nations game against Cote D'Ivoire, ending a record 24-shot penalty session, and eliminating his side. On the other hand he was the top scorer of the tournament, with five goals.
When he was 15, Eto'o signed with Real Madrid. However, when he arrived at Madrid airport, nobody received him as he flew to the wrong airport. In his desperation, young Samuel walked over to the first African he encountered. That man took pity on him and directed him to the Real Madrid grounds. Eto'o has stated that he would gladly thank this man, but that he neither has his name or contacts.
Racism Since Eto'o plays for Barcelona he is booed in some matches outside Barcelona's stadium, the Nou Camp. In some rival stadiums it is perhaps due to the intensity of the rivalry and a percieved lack of fairplay on the part of Eto'o. However, in a minority of stadiums he suffers from racist abuse. Eto'o is not the only black player who is subject to racist taunts, and he is one of many players who has risen his voice against these miserable hooligans. A nasty incident occurred in February of 2006, where Eto'o suffered from racially-driven verbal abuse by Spanish spectators during a match against Real Zaragoza. Apparently, fans began making monkey-like sounds whenever Eto'o had possession of the ball. Deeply offended Eto'o threatened to leave the pitch in the middle of the game, but it was prevented by the quick intervention of his team-mates and the referee, who rushed to the pitch to calm him down. Even Ronaldinho, who is also black, said he was fed up of the sounds and that if Eto'o had left he would have done the same. Zaragoza was fined with 9000€ and Eto'o declared that wasn't enough and that La Romareda, Real Zaragoza's stadium, should've been closed for at least one year. However, Eto'o's coach, Frank Riikjaard, quickly told him to concentrate on football and to stop talking about the incident.
The incident sparked controversy as to the racist attitudes of a minority of Spanish football fans and more importantly, it opened a general discussion of racism in football. Britain has voiced its outrage at the incident, reeling from the English team's similar predicament during a friendly match against the Spanish national team on Spanish soil.