Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o Fils (Nkongsamba, Litoral, March 10, 1981) is a Spanish nationalized former Cameroonian soccer player who played as a striker. He was a full international with the Cameroon soccer team, of which he was its captain and all-time top scorer. Since December 11, 2021, he has been the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, replacing Seidou Mbombo Njoya with 43 votes out of 31.

He has been awarded the African Footballer of the Year award in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010, being along with Yaya Touré the only players to win it four times.

On December 17, 2010, he became the only player in the world to have managed to score in seven different official tournaments in the same year (2010 African Cup of Nations, Serie A 2009-10, Italian Cup 2009-10, Liga Champions League 2009-10, Soccer World Cup 2010, Italian Super Cup 2010 and FIFA Club World Cup 2010), thus beating Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma, who had achieved it in six different official tournaments, but unlike Pedro's record, in which all six competitions were at club level, Samuel Eto'o scored in five different tournaments for his club and in two different tournaments for his national team.

He is currently ranked 17th in the Spanish League top scorer rankings, he is the all-time top scorer for the Cameroon national team, Real Club Deportivo Mallorca and also the ninth top scorer in the history of FC Barcelona.

Trajectory

Beginnings

He began his career at Club Deportivo Leganés in Spain and in 1996 signed for Real Madrid Castilla. After descending with the white subsidiary to Second Division B in his first season, the club decided to transfer him to Club Deportivo Leganés, a team in which he was throughout the 1997-98 season.

Real Madrid

The following year he returned to Real Madrid, making his debut in the Spanish First Division on December 5, 1998 in the RCD Espanyol 0-0 Real Madrid game. Although in the middle of the season he leaves on loan to RCD Espanyol, that is the only league game that Eto'o would play that season, since he would only play friendly matches at RCD Espanyol. Despite everything, that season Eto'o managed to proclaim himself champion of the Intercontinental Cup with Real Madrid. In 1999 he returned to Real Madrid, where he had almost no opportunities to play. In the middle of the season, he decided to join the ranks of the Real Club Deportivo Mallorca.

Despite leaving for Mallorca, he played a total of three games with Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League that season. This means that Eto'o is also considered Champions League champion.

RCD Mallorca

The Balearic club acquired 50% of the federative rights of Eto'o in exchange for 7.2 million euros. In this way, Real Madrid could recover it at half the price, or get half the amount of the transfer if Eto'o was sold to another club.

At RCD Mallorca, Eto'o began to play and make himself known in Spanish soccer. He played more and more games until, finally, he made a place for himself in the starting eleven of his club. He was the author of two of the three goals for Real Mallorca in the final of the Copa del Rey in the 2002-03 season, in which Mallorca defeated Recreativo de Huelva 3-0. He dedicated the goals and the title to Cameroonian Marc-Vivien Foé, a close friend and teammate, who tragically died 48 hours before the Cup final, when he was playing the FIFA Confederations Cup in Lyon.

Eto'o stayed with RCD Mallorca for five seasons, playing 133 league games, in which he scored 54 goals, thus becoming the top scorer in the history of Real Mallorca in the League. With Mallorca he also played in the Champions League (although he had already made his debut with Real Madrid), and with his two goals in the competition, he is also Mallorca's top scorer in the Champions League. All this helped him to be named African footballer of the year in 2003, for the first time.

FC Barcelona

Eto'o, celebrating a goal at F. C. Barcelona.

In the summer of 2004, after several seasons of extraordinary performance at Mallorca, the time came for Samuel Eto'o to make the leap to a great club in Europe. He was the object of desire of several clubs, including Valencia CF or Chelsea FC, even Real Madrid considered recovering him. The player decided to sign for F. C. Barcelona, knowing that he would have guaranteed ownership at that club. August, Barcelona closed the signing of Eto'o for four years, at a cost of 24 million. Real Madrid and Real Mallorca, owners of the player in equal parts, received 12 million euros each. The Madrid club, which gave up the Cameroonian striker, immediately invested the money in the signing of English striker Michael Owen.

He was the starting forward for his new team that season. He scored his first goal in his official debut for Barça against Racing Santander at El Sardinero, through a penalty. As in previous seasons, he scored a goal for his former club; Real Madrid. He was the protagonist of Barça's win over the white team at the Camp Nou (3-0); taking advantage of an error by Roberto Carlos and Casillas to open the scoring and later causing a penalty.

One of his goals, the equalizer (minute 60), scored on May 14, 2005 in the Levante UD 1 - 1 F. C. Barcelona match meant the title of champion of the Spanish League for F. C. Barcelona. According to the official data from LaLiga shared the position of top scorer in the league with Uruguayan Diego Forlán in the 2004-05 season with 25 goals, but the Pichichi Trophy was awarded to the Villarreal CF player alone. He was also named the best player in Africa for the second time, ahead of Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast.

He won the European Bronze Boot in the 2004-2005 season with his 24 goals, one less than Diego Forlán and Thierry Henry, and in the 2005-2006 season with 26 goals, behind Luca Toni with 31 and Thierry Henry with 27.

In 2005 Eto'o was proclaimed champion of the Supercopa de España de Fútbol. On December 20 of that same year he was chosen by FIFA as the third best player of the year, behind Lampard, second and the Barça player Ronaldinho. He was also included in the & # 34; FIFA Ideal Team & # 34; for the second time in a row. And for the third time in a row, he was crowned the best African player of 2005, becoming the player who has received the award the most times.

In February 2006, during the Zaragoza-Barcelona match in the Spanish league, he threatened to withdraw from the pitch for hearing simian racist yelling, in reference to his African origin, but he was able to be calmed down by his teammates, coach and referee to continue playing the game. This incident once again placed him at the center of numerous discussions, after having spit on a rival and being controversially alluded to by coach Javier Clemente ("those who spit are those who come down from the tree").

Eto'o fighting a ball with Patrice Evra, at the end of the Champions League that won the soft club in Rome in May 2009.

During the 2005-06 season he managed to win the trophy for the top scorer in the Spanish League with 26 goals, thus helping FC Barcelona achieve its second consecutive league championship. That season he also won the Champions League against Arsenal FC, in a match in which he managed to score the goal that gave Barcelona a momentary tie. He was named by UEFA as the best player in the final, played at the Stade de France in Paris, and as the best striker in the competition, ahead of his teammate Ronaldinho and Frenchman Thierry Henry.

Samuel Eto'o in a training with the Barça, 2008.

In the 2006-07 season, in a Champions League match against Werder Bremen, he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee, his most serious injury to date. The doctors of FC Barcelona estimated his recovery in about five months, thus losing a large part of the season, when barely a month had been played.

The five-month deadlines were met, and he was finally able to rejoin the team in February, to face the final stretch of the season in which he scored 16 goals in 18 league games that did not help Barcelona win the competition, as they finished second, tied on points with Real Madrid.

After recovering from his injury, an angry Eto'o gave a speech to the press, known as the big crack. In it, he publicly declared the breakdown of the Barcelona dressing room into two camps, supporters of President Joan Laporta (including himself) and opponents of him and supporters of former Vice President Sandro Rosell, led by Ronaldinho and Deco. The cracks in the Barcelona squad caused a crisis of results, to such an extent that the Catalans did not win titles again until these last players left the club.

On October 17, 2007, he was sworn to the Spanish Constitution, obtaining said nationality.

In February 2008, he was sanctioned by the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, with 12,000 euros for chants against Real Madrid during the celebration of the league title, in 2005.

On June 17, 2008, the new coach of F. C. Barcelona Pep Guardiola announced in his presentation that he did not have the players Deco, Ronaldinho and Eto'o himself. In the following weeks, it was published in the press the interest of various teams in the player. However, on August 12, 2008, Pep Guardiola announced at a press conference that the player would finally continue as a member of the Barça squad. In that season, Eto'o would manage to score 36 goals in all competitions (his best brand at that time) and his team won the "triplete".

Inter

Samuel Eto'o with the Internazionale shirt.

Eto'o was transferred to Inter Milan in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimović and 38 million euros that the Barcelona club paid to Inter Milan. The negotiation was officially confirmed on July 27, 2009. His contract was valid for five years, until June 30, 2014.

On May 22, 2010, his team managed to win the UEFA Champions League, defeating Bayern Munich in the final, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, with a result of 2-0, with two goals from Diego Military. That made Eto'o the first footballer to win two "triplets" consecutively: with F. C. Barcelona and with Inter Milan.

On November 23, 2010, the disciplinary body of the Italian league decided to fine the player a 3-game ban and €30,000 for a headbutt on Cesar in the match against Chievo in the 2010-11 Calcio season, as well as that Zinedine Zidane did in the final of the 2006 Soccer World Cup.

Despite this sanction, he was able to participate in the 2010 Club World Cup where he played both games, including the Final against TP Mazembe, where he scored the second goal for the Italian team. After the consecration of Inter Milan as the new world champion, the Cameroonian was chosen as the best player in the Final and the Ballon d'Or of the tournament. He would end the season by also winning the Italian Cup and scoring 20 goals in Serie A, as well as breaking his own record for goals in a season (37) and becoming the foreigner who has scored the most goals with the nerazzurra.

Anzhi

Samuel Eto'o with the Anzhi Majachkalá.

On August 23, 2011, the transfer of Eto'o to FC Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League is confirmed, with 20 million euros per year he becomes the highest paid footballer.

Eto'o scored his first goal in a 5-3 loss at home to CSKA Moscow leaving his team four points ahead of Krasnodar with just two rounds to go in qualifying for the Group of Championship. At the end of the 2012-13 Russian Premier League Eto'o made the top 33 players on the season roster as the #1 Haga Striker.

Billionaire owner of Anzhi Suleiman Kerimov shocked the Russian football world, deciding in August 2013 to scale back the club's ambitions and thus slash its budget. As a result, almost all the star players, who were signed in an attempt to make the club great, were put on the market.

Chelsea

Samuel Eto'o playing at Chelsea in 2014.

On 29 August 2013, Eto'o joined Chelsea Football Club, where he played a sparse season. He became a free agent after not renewing his contract.

He scored his first goal for Chelsea on October 19, 2013 against Cardiff City, in which Chelsea gave the lead. In Chelsea's Champions League home game against Schalke 04 on November 6, Eto'o he scored twice in a 3-0 win. In Eto's first league start of 2014, on January 20, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick for Chelsea, winning the Blues in a 3-1 win over Manchester. United at Stamford Bridge. On March 8, Eto'o opened the scoring in Chelsea's 4-0 win over Tottenham when Jan Vertonghen sent a backpass straight his way. It was the 300th goal of his club career.

In Chelsea's UEFA Champions League second leg tie against Galatasaray, Eto'o gave the team an early lead after four minutes with his tenth goal of the season, in a game they were going to win 2-0. Eto'o continued his fine form with another early goal, in the fifth minute against Arsenal F.C. on March 22. However, he was then substituted in the 10th minute for Fernando Torres after picking up a minor injury, Chelsea won the game 6-0.

Everton

Eto'o in a 2014-15 European League match against Krasnodar.

After several rumors linking him to soccer in the Netherlands and Italy, Eto'o remained in English soccer with Everton F.C. His arrival became official on August 26, 2014, signing a contract of 2 years with the toffees.

He made his debut four days later, scoring a headed goal in his former team Chelsea's 3-6 home loss. He said he wanted to win the UEFA Europa League with Everton, a tournament he had never won before, however Eto'o left him halfway through his first season at Everton, having scored 4 goals in 20 games in all competitions for them.

Sampdoria

On January 24, 2015, it was announced that he was signing for U. C. Sampdoria on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

At the beginning of February he had a discussion with the team's coach Siniša Mihajlović, since he refused to train in a double shift the day after his debut (5-1 loss against Torino), for which he was temporarily excluded from the squad, but definitively reinstated to the team at the end of the month. Eto'o started most of the games he played and despite failing to score many goals, he became one of the most important axes of the attack equipment.

On March 7, 2015, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win over Cagliari Calcio. On May 24, in his penultimate game at the club, he scored his last goal for the team in a 1-1 draw at Empoli FC.
As with Everton, Eto'o spent only half a season at the Italian club, finishing the 2014-15 Serie A in 7th place, managing to qualify for the 2015-16 UEFA Europa League, but with only 2 goals to his credit in 18 games played.

Antalyaspor

On June 24, 2015, it was confirmed that Turkish Super League club Antalyaspor Kulübü had signed for one season. At the Turkish club he will receive 3.3 million euros per year.He would debut on August 15 with a brace in the 3-2 away win over İstanbul Başakşehir. He scores a double again on September 12, scoring both goals in the win over Eskişehirspor. On March 14, 2016, he marks his first double of the year in the 3-0 win over Bursaspor. On April 16, he came out as the figure of the match in the 4-2 win over Galatasaray. On May 1, he gave the victory by the minimum over Konyaspor, his last goal being his in the season in which he would score 20 goals in 32 games, once again having a great quota of goals after several years.

His first goal of the 2016/17 season was scored on September 11 in a 3-1 home loss against Konyaspor. On October 31, he scored the winning goal away from Kayserispor, five days later, on November 5, he gave his team a 1-0 victory over Gençlerbirliği. On December 3, he marks his first double of the season in a two-goal draw on his visit to İstanbul Başakşehir.

On January 28, he scores both goals in a 2-1 win over Alanyaspor. On February 18, late in the game, he scores the winning goal at home over Karabükspor.

Qatar SC

In mid-August 2018, he signed for the Qatari club.

Retreat

Despite the fact that in September 2019 he announced his retirement from professional football after playing 586 club games and scoring more than 400 goals between the national team and clubs, Racing Murcia, a team from the Spanish Third Division, wanted to sign him so that will play the Copa del Rey in the 2020-21 season.

National team

Eto'o playing with the selection of Cameroon.

Eto'o in the 2008 African Cup, where the selection of Cameroon was sub-campaign after losing in the final with Egypt.

He has been capped with the Cameroon national team 118 times and has scored 56 goals, being the all-time top scorer. His debut took place on March 9, 1997 in the match between Costa Rica and Cameroon, which fell 5-0 in favor of Costa Rica at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in San José, Costa Rica.

In 2000, Eto'o won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, beating Spain in the final on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Soccer players like Lauren, Geremi, Wome and Carlos Kameni played in that Cameroon team, who at just 16 years old was decisive on penalties.

Eto'o has twice won the African Cup of Nations and was runner-up in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He is the top scorer in the history of the African Cup with 16 goals. In the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon were eliminated in a penalty shootout against their classic rivals, the Ivory Coast. In the 23rd shot of what was the longest shootout in the history of this competition, Eto'o missed his second shot after both teams had scored all their penalties.

Participations in World Cups

He played with the Cameroon national team in the 1998 World Cup, playing a match against Italy in which he was a substitute and came on in the 66th minute for François Oman-Biyik.

He also participated in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, playing three matches against Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Germany. Eto & # 39; o started all the matches of that World Cup and scored a goal in the match against Saudi Arabia, his first goal being his in the World Cup.

Eto'o did not participate in the 2006 World Cup held in Germany as his team failed to qualify. A missed penalty by Pierre Wome against Egypt in the qualifying phase was decisive for the elimination of the Cameroonian team. Samuel Eto & # 39; o was harshly criticized by his teammates, the press and fans for not having taken that penalty.

Eto'o reached the 2010 World Cup after having qualified with the Cameroon National Team, being the undefeated leader of Group 1 in the first phase with 16 points, winning 5 games and drawing 1, after having faced Cape Verde, Tanzania and Mauricio, and also being the leader of Group A in the second phase of the Qualifiers. Eto'o scored 9 goals in 11 games and was the second scorer in these qualifiers, after Moumouni Dagano.

In the second match for Group E of the 2010 World Cup, he scored a goal against Denmark, however, his team was defeated 2-1 with which he would be eliminated from the World Cup in the first round. He scored again from a penalty against the Netherlands, but despite his goal, the match would end 2-1 in favor of the Dutch, so Cameroon would end without any points in the World Cup.

Participations in final phases

Competition	Category	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
1998 Football World Cup	Absolute	France	First phase	1	0
African Cup of Nations 2000		GhanaGhana and NigeriaNigeria	Champion	5	4
2000 Olympics	Sub-23	Sydney	Gold Medal	5	1
Confederations Cup 2001	Absolute	South KoreaSouth Korea and JapanJapan	First phase	3	0
African Cup of Nations 2002		Mali	Champion	6	1
2002 Football World Cup		South KoreaSouth Korea and JapanJapan	First phase	3	1
Confederations Cup 2003		France	Subfield	4	1
African Cup of Nations 2004		Tunisia	Final rooms	4	1
African Cup of Nations 2006		EgyptEgypt	Final rooms	4	5
African Cup of Nations 2008		GhanaGhana	Subfield	6	5
African Cup of Nations 2010		AngolaAngola	Final rooms	4	2
2010 Soccer World Cup		South Africa	First phase	3	2
2014 Soccer World Cup		BrazilBrazil	First phase	1	0
Total				49	23

Statistics

Clubs

Updated according to the last game played on September 7, 2019.

Club	Div.	Season	League			Cups national(1)			Cups international(2)			Total			Average score
			Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.
Leganese CD SpainSpain	2. a	1997-98	28	3	5	2	1	0	-			30	4	5	0.13
	Total club		28	3	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	30	4	5	0.13
Real Madrid CF SpainSpain	1. a	1998-99	1	0	0	-			-			1	0	0	0.00
		1999-00	2	0	0	-			4	0	0	6	0	0	0.00
	Total club		3	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	7	0	0	0.00
RCD Espanyol SpainSpain	1. a	1998-99	-			1	0	0	-			1	0	0	0.00
	Total club		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
RCD Mallorca SpainSpain	1. a	1999-2000	13	6	4	-			-			13	6	4	0.46
		2000-01	28	11	4	5	2	0	-			33	13	4	0.39
		2001-02	30	6	5	1	1	0	9	3	1	40	10	6	0.25
		2002-03	30	14	2	6	5	0	-			36	19	2	0.53
		2003-04	32	17	10	4	1	1	7	4	0	43	22	11	0.51
	Total club		133	54	25	16	9	1	16	7	1	165	70	27	0.42
F.C. Barcelona SpainSpain	1. a	2004-05	37	25	5	1	0	0	7	4	2	45	29	7	0.62
		2005-06	34	26	7	2	2	0	11	6	4	47	34	11	0.72
		2006-07	19	11	8	4	1	0	4	1	3	27	13	11	0.48
		2007-08	18	16	4	3	1	0	7	1	0	28	18	4	0.64
		2008-09	36	30	5	4	0	0	12	6	3	52	36	8	0.69
	Total club		144	108	29	14	4	0	41	18	12	199	130	41	0.65
Inter de Milan ItalyItaly	1. a	2009-10	32	12	7	3	2	0	13	2	2	48	16	9	0.33
		2010-11	35	21	10	5	7	0	13	9	6	53	37	16	0.70
		2011-12	-			1	0	0	-			1	0	0	0.00
	Total club		67	33	17	9	9	0	26	11	8	102.	53	25	0.51
FK Anzhí Majachkalá Russia Russia	1. a	2011-12	22	13	6	1	0	0	-			23	13	6	0.57
		2012-13	25	10	7	3	2	0	16	9	3	44	21	10	0.48
		2013-14	6	2	0	-			-			6	2	0	0.33
	Total club		53	25	13	4	2	0	16	9	3	73	36	16	0.49
Chelsea FC EnglandEngland	1. a	2013-14	21	9	5	5	0	0	9	3	2	35	12	7	0.34
	Total club		21	9	5	5	0	0	9	3	2	35	12	7	0.34
Everton FC EnglandEngland	1. a	2014-15	14	3	1	2	0	0	4	1	1	20	4	2	0.20
	Total club		14	3	1	2	0	0	4	1	1	20	4	2	0.20
UC Sampdoria ItalyItaly	1. a	2014-15	18	2	3	-			-			18	2	3	0.11
	Total club		18	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	2	3	0.11
Antalyaspor TurkeyTurkey	1. a	2015-16	31	20	6	1	0	0	-			32	20	6	0.63
		2016-17	30	18	6	-			-			30	18	6	0.60
		2017-18	15	6	3	-			-			15	6	3	0.40
	Total club		76	44	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	77	44	15	0.57
Konyaspor TurkeyTurkey	1. a	2017-18	13	6	1	1	0	1	-			14	6	2	0.43
	Total club		13	6	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	14	6	2	0.43
Qatar SC QatarQatar	1. a	2018-19	17	6	1	4	3	0	-			21	9	1	0.42
	Total club		17	6	1	4	3	0	0	0	0	21	9	1	0.42
Total career			587	293	115	59	28	2	116	49	27	762	371	143	0.49
(1) Includes data from the Spanish Super Cup (2003-06); King Cup (1997-09); Italian Super Cup / Italy Cup (2009-11); Russia Cup (2011-13); England League Cup (2013-14); FA Cup (2014-15); Turkey Cup (2016-18); Catar/ Stars League Cup by Catar Playoffs (2018-19). (2) It includes data from the UEFA Super Cup (2006-10); FIFA World Club Cup (2000-10); UEFA Champions League (1999-14); UEFA/Liga Europa Cup (2001-14). (3) Half of goals per encounter. It does not include goals in friendly matches.

Source: Transfermarkt - ESPN Sports - Soccerway.

Selections

Updated according to the last match played on June 13, 2014.

Selection	Season	Friendly			Africa(1)			World(2)			Total			Average score
		Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.
Olympic CameroonCameroon	2000	-			-			6	1	3	6	1	3	0.17
	Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1	3	6	1	3	0.17
Absolute CameroonCameroon	1997	3	0	0	-			-			3	0	0	0.00
	1998	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	0	0.00
	1999	-			1	0	0	-			1	0	0	0.00
	2000	3	0	0	6	5	2	-			9	5	2	0.56
	2001	2	0	1	4	2	1	3	0	0	9	2	2	0.22
	2002	4	3	1	6	1	3	3	1	1	13	5	5	0.39
	2003	3	1	0	-			4	1	0	7	2	0	0.29
	2004	1	0	0	8	4	2	-			9	4	2	0.44
	2005	1	0	0	5	1	4	-			6	1	4	0.17
	2006	-			5	5	2	-			5	5	2	1,00
	2007	1	0	0	2	1	1	-			3	1	1	0.33
	2008	-			11	11	3	-			11	11	3	1,00
	2009	3	2	0	6	3	2	-			9	5	2	0.56
	2010	3	2	0	6	4	0	3	2	0	12	8	0	0.67
	2011	4	2	0	4	2	1	-			8	4	1	0.50
	2012	1	0	0	1	0	0	-			2	0	0	0.00
	2013	-			4	2	0	-			4	2	0	0.50
	2014	2	1	0	-			1	0	0	3	1	0	0.33
	Total	34	11	2	70	41	21	15	4	1	119	56	24	0.47
Total career		34	11	2	70	41	21	21	5	4	125	57	27	0.46
(1) Includes African Nations/African Classification Cup (1998-13). (2) Includes Olympic Games (2000); FIFA Confederations Cup (2001-03).

Statistical summary

Updated according to the last game played on June 14, 2019.

Competition	Parties	Goles	Average	Assistance	Average	Targets and assistance	Average
First division	559	290	0.51	110	0.20	400	0.72
Second division	28	3	0.11	5	0.18	8	0.29
National Cups	59	28	0.47	2	0.03	30	0.51
International Cups	116	49	0.42	27	0.23	76	0.66
Absolute selection	119	56	0.47	24	0.20	80	0.67
Olympic selection	6	1	0.17	3	0.50	4	0.67
Total	887	427	0.48	171	0.19	598	0.67

Hat-tricks

Matches that scored three or more goals: Updated according to the last game played on April 30, 2017.

Matches in which he scored three or more goals
N.o	Date	Stadium	Party	Goles	Outcome	Competition
1	2 November 2005	Camp Nou, Barcelona	FC Barcelona - Panathinaikos FC		5 - 0	UEFA Champions League 2005-06
2	21 January 2006	Military Academy, Cairo	Cameroon - Angola		3 - 1	African Cup of Nations 2006
3	24 February 2008	Camp Nou, Barcelona	FC Barcelona - Levante UD		5 - 1	First Division of Spain 2007-08
4	25 October 2008		FC Barcelona - UD Almería		5 - 0	First Division of Spain 2008-09
5	8 November 2008		FC Barcelona - Real Valladolid CF		6 - 0
6	29 September 2010	Giuseppe Meazza, Milan	Inter de Milan - Werder Bremen		4 - 0	UEFA Champions League 2010-11
7	19 January 2014	Stamford Bridge, London	Chelsea FC - Manchester United FC		3 - 1	Premier League 2013-14
8	30 April 2017	Adana 5 Ocak, Adana	Adanaspor - Antalyaspor		2 - 5	Turkey Superlight 2016-17

Honours of Prizes

National titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
Copa del Rey	R. C. D. Mallorca	SpainSpain	2002-03
First Division of Spain	F. C. Barcelona		2004-05
Supercopa de España			2005
First Division of Spain			2005-06
Supercopa de España			2006
First Division of Spain			2008-09
Copa del Rey			2008-09
Series A	Inter de Milan	ItalyItaly	2009-10
Cup Italy			2009-10
Cup Italy			2010-11
Supercopa de Italia			2010

International Titles

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
Olympic Games	Olympic Selection of Cameroon	Sydney	2000
African Cup of Nations	Selection of Cameroon	GhanaGhana NigeriaNigeria	2000
African Cup of Nations		MaliMali	2002
UEFA Champions League	Real Madrid FC	Saint-Denis	1999-2000
UEFA Champions League	F. C. Barcelona		2005-06
UEFA Champions League		Rome	2008-09
UEFA Champions League	Inter de Milan	Madrid	2009-10
FIFA World Cup of Clubs		United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates	2010

(*) Including selection

Records

• Unique Cameroonian and unique African to win 4 UEFA Champions League. (Real Madrid 2000, Barcelona 2006 and 2009, Inter Milan 2010)
• One of the four players to win the UEFA Champions League two consecutive years with different team (Shared with Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Gerard Piqué).
• Only African player to participate in 4 World Cups of football.
• One of the two players worldwide to score in seven different official tournaments in the same season. (Shared with Fernando Torres).
• Only player in history win triplet twice consecutive.
• Maximum historical scorer of the selection of Cameroon.
• Maximum historic scorer of the African Cup of Nations.

Individual awards

Distinction	Year
African footballer of the Year	2003, 2005, 2010
Third World FIFA Player position	2005
Included in the eleven ideal of FIFA	2005
Included in the eleven ideal of the FIFPro	2005, 2006
Best Player of the Champions League Final	2006
EUFA Year Delantero	2006
Trophy Pichichi	2006
Maximum African Nations Cup Gorilla	2006
Fifth place in the Golden Ball	2009
Golden Ball ADIDAS to the Best Player of the World Club	2010
Toyota Award to Best Player of the World Club Final	2010
Maximum Italian Cup scorer (5 goals)	2011
Golden Foot	2015

Predecessor: Diego Forlán

Pichichi 2005-06

Successor: Ruud van Nistelrooy

Bibliographic references

• Samuel Eto'o. Race of champion, Sport Collection, autobiography with the collaboration of José Luis Carazo and Javier Miguel.