The former Barcelona and Chelsea forward featured in four editions of the global football showcase with the Indomitable Lions
Former Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o believes that the Indomitable Lions had quality players to win the Fifa World Cup during his time with the team.
The 38-year-old had an international career that spanned more than 15 years and featured in four World Cups with Cameroon, captaining them in two editions.
Although the Indomitable Lions did not manage to advance past the group stage in the four tournaments Eto’o went to, he feels they had the quality capable of becoming the first African side to win the World Cup.
The likes of Rigobert Song, Patrick Mboma, Geremi Njitap, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Lauren Etame-Mayer, Joel Matip and Eric Choupo-Moting played with Eto’o at the World Cup.
“I told myself that, eventually, with all the magnificent players I played alongside for Cameroon, we could have won the World Cup,” Eto’o told AFP .
“It wasn’t to be. That is the only trophy I didn’t manage to win but I had some unforgettable moments with that team.”
Ironically, the two World Cups Eto’o captained Cameroon at were the worst the team participated in, losing all their group games in 2010 and 2014.
They also failed to qualify for the 2006 finals.
Cameroon’s best showing at the World Cup remains reaching the quarter-finals in 1990, the first African team to scale such heights.
Having enjoyed a glittering career that saw him win three Champions League titles, two Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) crowns and an Olympic gold medal, Eto’o, however, regards his first Afcon triumph as the most significant of all his accolades.
“I would say my first Africa Cup of Nations [in 2000], because it was my first Afcon, an unforgettable moment, and I had come away from the 1998 World Cup in France with the hope of making history,” he said.
“I wasn’t a starter in that magnificent team but in the end, I worked my way into the side and contributed. It is a beautiful memory.”
The ex-Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker now plans to venture into coaching, ruling out a career in football administration.
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