After the success of his Italian club Inter Milan in the UEFA European Champions League, Cameroonian football star Samuel Eto'o is the toast of the town and his country. This is Eto'o third success in the competition that is referred to as the Super bowl of European Football, making him the only player with Clarence Seedorf to have won the cup with three different teams. Cameroonian bloggers are proud of the accomplishment of their star player and hope that the momentum of his success can carry on for Cameroon at the World Cup.
Gef , blogging about football in Cameroon, certainly hopes so:
After a few days of recess, Eto’o will join his team-mates of the national team who have already started preparations for the FIFA World Cup that opens in South Africa on 11 June.
Many fans hope he will be an inspiration to lead the team to glory on African soil and expect to see the Eto’o who is a free-scoring lead striker although he has been used on the left of a three-man forward line-up.
Femmes En Ligne is happy for Eto'o and for Cameroon (fr):
Le drapeau vert – rouge – jaune du Cameroun a flotté au stade Santiago Bernabeu de Madrid en Espagne grâce à Samuel Eto’o qui a revêtu le drapeau national autour de ses épaules [..] Il devient le premier footballeur à avoir gagné deux années successives le triplé championnat, coupe nationale et ligue des champions respectivement avec Barcelone et l’Inter de Milan
Camer-Sport says that emotion were running high for Cameroonians when Eto'o wore the flag for the whole world to see (fr):
Lorsque Samy a accroché le drapeau vert-rouge-jaune à son cou, certains de ces fans non pas pu retenir leurs larmes à Darmstadt. Tous ont déclaré s’identifier dans ce geste patriotique qui porte le Cameroun très haut sur la planète football. L’Inter a gagné un trophée continental. Eto’o a écrit l’histoire d’une nation africaine sur le sol du vieux continent.
Screenshot of Eto'o hugging Inter Milan first lady Mrs Moratti
Mohamed at Afrique foot notes that Eto'o's maturation since his days in Barcelona were on full display in Milan (fr):
Loin de l’image du joueur vantard qui lui collait en Catalogne, le Camerounais a montré sous les ordres de Mourinho qu’il était un attaquant intelligent, capable de s’adapter à n’importe quel système de jeu, quitte à jouer défenseur latéral.
Bernard Molino thinks that Eto'o is overdue for winning the best football player award for 2010 (fr):
Que doit faire Samuel Eto’o pour gagner le Ballon d’Or ? Samuel Eto’o mérite largement le Ballon d’or. Cette saison, ni Messi, ni Rooney, ni Drogba n’ont réussi à remporter la Champions League
Interview of Eto'o after the champions league final, courtesy of blogger Allain Jules
On Le Blog de Samuel Eto'o fils, Marc shares the following interview with Eto'o in Milan in which he hopes for Cameroon to go far at the World Cup (fr):
Still, Cameroonians are skeptical about the chances of Cameroon to go far in the competition because of their up and down performances this year. Christophe breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the national team (fr). However, the most stern critique of the team might just be African football legend Roger Milla. Milla is world renown for leading Cameroon to the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup and scoring 4 goals in the process at the age of 38, the most famous ones against Colombian goal keeper Rene Higueta:
Milla is pessimistic about Cameroon's chances. Asked by Frank Salin of Afrik.com, Milla thinks the team needs to remember that what makes it great is its unity (fr):
Il faut qu’ils oublient les différences qu’il y a entre eux : qu’untel est champion d’Europe, qu’untel est le plus payé, qu’untel joue dans telle grande équipe… Le peuple camerounais n’en a rien à cirer de tout cela.
Hermann Oswald G'nowa at Camer-Sport might just disagree with Milla. He writes that the players's passion for Cameroon is symbolized by Joel Job Matip, a young player who chose to represent Cameroon ( his father's country) over Germany ( his country of birth). G'nowa writes about Matip's tough decision (fr):
ll justifiait également son amour pour le Cameroun, le pays d'origine de papa: “Je n’ai pas fait ce choix à la légère, j’ai bien réfléchi à la question. Mais je me suis fié à mon instinct, c’est ce qui a déterminé ma décision.”
