Samuel Eto’o eh? He sure knows a thing or two about team stability. Though he seemed to have calmed down in recent times (to the point where Didier Drogba has stopped becoming the poor man’s Eto’o in terms of unpredictability) he lashed out today, claiming he might just walk away from that big party in South Africa afterall.
Why? Because Cameroon legend, Roger Milla spoke out and claimed that Eto’o “hasn’t brought anything to our national team”.
Milla of course is Cameroon’s answer to Pele, delighting fans the world over twenty years ago as he lit up Italia 90. Pele has a habit of speaking out of turn every now and then, but mostly everyone ignores it. Eto’o however is clearly a more sensitive soul.
“…is it worth me going to the World Cup? I’ve still got some days to think about it but I’ll see if my taking part is important because I don’t need this in my career. It is always before tournaments that bitter people wake up. What has he [Roger Milla] done? He hasn’t won the World Cup.” is what Eto’o said exactly.
Harsh words indeed. Although I don’t recall Samuel Eto’o winning the World Cup just yet either. Though he has won basically everything else.
Perhaps it is little more than a tantrum, and its tough to image that Eto’o would walk away from the biggest stage on Earth – an African World Cup no less – just because a former player said some mean things about him.
He wouldn’t be the first iconic player to walk away from appearing a World Cup by any stretch of the imagination. In different circumstances, Johan Cruyff decided he didn’t want to go over to Argentina to play in 1978 (Holland got to the final and lost that time around).
I hope he does get his head down and go though. It kinda makes me sad when great players from different eras argue (maybe because the fantasist in me wants to see them play together), but what a blow it would be, not just for Cameroon and their hopes at the World Cup, but also for African football as a whole. Along with Drogba, Eto’o is the most recognisable name in African football, and a World Cup on African soil without him in it is just unimaginable.
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