A Happy Cameroon Family With a White Person in It Cameroon Football
Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, the pride of AFCON host city Douala
Eto'o concluded his career as one of the greatest African footballers of all fourth dimension but it was in the metropolis of Douala in Republic of cameroon that he start made his name.
Samuel Eto'o left for Europe to become one of the greatest African footballers of all time merely it was in the city of Douala in Cameroon that he start made his proper noun and where residents go on to idolise the former Barcelona superstar.
Cameroon'due south economical uppercase is a loud and cluttered port city, hot and humid.
It is here that the country's Indomitable Lions will confront The Gambia in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-finals on Saturday as Cameroon come up to Douala for the first time in the tournament having played their previous matches in Yaounde.
Eto'o, who also starred for Inter Milan and wore the number nine for his country, moved to Douala with his family from the capital letter as a young boy.
He was raised in an unremarkable firm on a dusty street in New Bong, an impoverished district where the locals are simply too happy to talk about the human who put their neighbourhood on the map.
"He grew up hither only he was blessed by God," said Valentine, a 49-yr-onetime caterer sheltering from the scorching mid-afternoon sun just across the street from the Eto'o family house.
"Eto'o has helped a lot of people in this neighbourhood. Recently he came back hither and laid on nutrient for anybody in New Bell."
Immortalised
Only forth the street is a bar where the exterior walls are busy with pictures of the 4-fourth dimension African Footballer of the Yr.
Nearby, the moto-taxis that can make navigating the streets a hazardous task pass in front of a statue of Eto'o in the green, yellow and red of Cameroon, with whom he won the AFCON in 2000 and 2002.
Eto'o was just xx when he led the Indomitable Lions to that second continental title and information technology would be some other 2 years before he signed for Barcelona and teamed up with players including Ronaldinho and a very young Lionel Messi.
In Douala information technology was articulate Eto'o was a special talent from a very young historic period.
"He was little, lively and loved football game," recalled Jean Rene Noubissi, who took Eto'o under his fly every bit he was starting out at local side UCB.
"He calls me his first president. I helped oversee his development. When he played for UCB, he scored goals in every game and I would give him a little bonus as a reward.
"Even and then you could see the discipline he had. He believed in his potential and knew where he wanted to go."
The walls of Noubissi's cramped function in the Akwa business district are covered in pictures of him with Eto'o, including one with Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
'Role model'
Eto'o played for Real Madrid and starred for Mallorca before joining Barcelona.
But before all of that, he went to France to try his luck just to return home with his tail between his legs.
"When he came back he had no society only he was still very famous, everybody knew most him in Douala. When he was simply 14 he was the one feeding the whole family," said Hiondi Nkam, author of a new volume about Eto'o chosen "Les Anges et Les Demons" (Angels and Demons).
He was not yet 16 when he fabricated his international debut and barely 17 when he went to the 1998 World Cup after newly appointed coach Claude Le Roy decided he could not ignore such a precocious talent.
"I wanted to give a chance to all the locally based players to meet if in that location were any gems among them, and I saw this immature role player who seemed so comfortable tactically so intelligent," Le Roy said.
"He was but a child but he wasn't agape of all the big names in the team."
Having retired from playing in 2019 anile 38, Eto'o has quickly transitioned into a leadership office off the field and in December, he was elected president of Cameroon's Football Federation.
"People believe that he is non there for money or fame, simply he is there to aid," said Nkam, who sums upwards what Eto'o means to New Bell.
"He is a role model. He was selfish on the field of play but very, very human off it. Some people would say that after God comes Samuel Eto'o."
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/1/28/etoo-is-pride-of-afcon-host-city-douala
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