Samuel Eto'o to AFP: "I was lucky to have a very good career"

Paris (AFP)

"At some point, you have to leave the stadiums to go to other challenges, this is the moment I chose, I was lucky to have a very good career," says Samuel Eto'o in an exclusive interview with AFP, a few weeks after announcing his retirement, at 38 years old.

After 23 years of career, a staggering record (more than a dozen major trophies!) And several hundred goals scored, the former striker Cameroon has set new challenges: the resumption of his studies to "win like coach "as he was able to do" as a player ".

Q: If we had to choose a moment of your career, what would be your best memory?

A: "I have many and it would be really difficult to choose I would still say my first African Cup won with the national team (in 2000) Because it was my first CAN, an unforgettable moment, and I was coming out of this 1998 World Cup in France hoping to write a great story, I was not starting the team in this great team, I played and I made my contribution. nice memory."

Q: On the contrary, what is your biggest regret?

A: "I really do not, when I look at others, I think I was very lucky, because even if you have talent, you need this little luck factor, even if I always went looking for her, and I thought, at one point, that with those wonderful players I've been to in Cameroon, we could have gone for the World Cup. ... It's the only trophy I miss, but I had an unforgettable time with this team. "

Q: With this huge win (three Champions League, two CAN, gold medal at the Olympics), what trace do you think you leave in the history of football?

A: "The inheritance The most difficult thing would have been to leave the stadiums without seeing some young people emerge.Today when you see the Cameroon national team (André Onana, Fabrice Ondoa, ...), you see that with my collaborators (from the Eto'o Foundation), we have tried to make a contribution which is there, I think it is our best work. "

- Best African player in history? -

Q: You are not afraid also to claim that you are the best African player in history ...

A: "I do not need to say it, it's a fact (smile)."

Q: It's not George Weah, the only African to win the Ballon d'Or?

A: "I have a lot of respect for all these elders but our careers are there and speak for each of us There are debates that are useless, I do not need to claim it, it's a whether you accept it or not, it's a fact (smile). "

Q: Exactly beyond your goals, will you also leave the image of a player with a legendary outspokenness?

A: "Everyone has the right to make up their minds.When you are an African, you are always judged, which is unacceptable because the first ones (to do so) are always Africans. + housewives + (laughs) Those do not take away anything because I'm proud to be African, I do not have complexes. "

Q: At the risk of passing for someone who has the "big head"?

A: "I wrote my story against all those teammates and opponents coming from all over the place, I have nothing to envy to others, when I look where I come from and where I came, I say that I have the right to be proud.This does not mean that I have a + big head +, far from it.But in this world, we appreciate the puppets more than anything else, and I do not accept not to be. "

- "Win as coach" -

Q: Would you have managed the same career without this unusual pride?

A: "I remember in 2006, when Zizou gives this trick, it has been treated everything, but he remains Zizou (smile) .If he had not been the person he is, he would not have written this story.To become the best, you have to have that character.That's what makes us different from others.I do not need to hide the person that I am, and that's why I have succeeded in all my clubs. "

Q: Your reconversion is already ready with a position of advisor to the CAF presidency. A coaching career like Zinedine Zidane, would you like it?

A: "I know that my next challenge will be, at a minimum, to win as a coach like I did as a player, I would like to do it in Europe, and then one day, go back to Africa and try to win there. I do not know how to lose. "

Q: Do you already have leads?

Q: What style of coach do you want to be: a José Mourinho or a Pep Guardiola?

A: "I'm a fan of a Guardiola I'm a lover of football, I think I have to win with the way Football is like going to the theater: it's nice to go to the stadium and when you watch Guardiola's teams play, you never get bored because you see a team defending with the ball, attacking, creating spaces ... You see magnificent actions "

Interviewed by Yassine KHIRI.

© 2019 AFP