Samuel Eto'o

 Samuel Eto'o Fils (French pronunciation: [samYel eto fis]; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the head of the Cameroonian Football Federation since 11 December 2021. When he was at his peak, Eto'o was regarded by the media as one of the top strikers in the world and is considered to be one of the most outstanding African footballers of all time. He won the African Player of the Year award a record four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.A precocious talent, Eto'o made the move to Real Madrid as a 16 year old. Due to the fact that he was competing in his position with older players, he had several loan spells before signing for Mallorca in 2000. He scored 70 goals. His impressive form saw him join Barcelona in 2004 where he scored 130 goals in five seasons. He was also the record holder of the highest number of appearances played by an African player in La Liga. [9] Winning La Liga three times, Eto'o was an integral part of the Barcelona attack, along with Ronaldinho who took home the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto'o scoring in the final, and was part of a front three that included Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry who won the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto'o scoring again in the final. He is the second player in the history of football to score in two UEFA Champions League finals. He placed third in the FIFA World Player of the year in Barcelona in 2005. He also was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI in 2006 and 2005. In 2009-10 the season he joined Inter Milan, where he became the first European player to earn two continental triples. He is the fourth player to win the trophy 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. After brief stints with Anzhi Makhachkala Chelsea, Everton, and Sampdoria Eto'o showed his prolific form again during the Super Lig with Antalyaspor having scored 44 goals in 76 league matches. He was awarded the Golden Foot Award in 2015. As an official Cameroon national soccer player Eto'o was a part of the team that took home the Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympics. He also won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002. Eto'o has participated in the four World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations. He is the top scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 18 goals. He is Cameroon's top scorer and third most capped player with 56 goals and 118 caps. In August of 2014, Eto'o declared that he would be retiring from international football.