End of the game for the "little Milla". In addition to the grandeur associated with his nickname (reference to the famous Cameroonian footballer Roger Milla), Samuel Eto'o is considered one of the greatest African players in the history of football. On Friday, September 6, he announced that he was ending his professional career. "The end, to a new challenge ... Thank you all, big love adrenaline," wrote the former Cameroonian international on Instagram.

At 38, the high-level striker was without a club after one last experience at the Qatar Sports Club - with little sporting interest compared to the level of play displayed in the Qatari championship - the last experience of a career of twenty-two years very rich.

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THE END😉 TOWARD A NEW CHALLENGE ... Thank you all big love ❤️ adrenaline 💉💉💉💉💉💉

A publication shared by Samuel Eto'o (@ setoo9) Sept. 6, 2019 at 12:15 PDT

In two decades, Samuel Eto'o has certainly left his name to the pantheon of the great players of world football, even if the beginning of his career has been complicated for the young player from Douala. At 15, he tries his luck in France but "makes a bad decision", as he explained in an interview with France 24 in 2014: "Every young African, I have the dream to go succeed in Europe but ( I am) undocumented. I arrive with a ten-day visa, but I decide to stay for several months. "

First in Marseille, then in Avignon and Paris. "It was a difficult time," explains Samuel Eto'o. "I had only been out of my home two or three times because, at the time, everyone was suspected of being undocumented. And when we caught you, we sent you home. It was really difficult. The Cameroonian player finally returned to Douala, before returning briefly to France for a test at the football club Le Havre (the HAC). "But the trainer who observed it did not find it good", explained to France Football in 2015 Pierre Foissac, a former recruiter for the HAC. A few weeks later, Samuel Eto'o signs a contract with Real Madrid.

A big prize list but no Ballon d'Or

But in a year and a half the young striker plays only 6 games under the jersey of the Merengue, blocked by the competition - Ronaldo, Raul - under the Galactic era of Real Madrid. There is a showdown with the club and a transfer to Mallorca.

And this is the flight of Samuel Eto'o: 60 goals scored in 145 games, then a transfer to FC Barcelona where he panics counters. He then continues to write his best moments at Inter Milan. Above all, he garnished during these years his trophy cabinet, succeeding successively two triplets in 2009 and 2010 - two times winner of the Champions League, champion of Spain and Italy, winner of the Spanish and Italian Cup .

In the 2000s, Samuel Eto'o also became an emblematic figure of the Indomitable Lions. With Cameroon, he won the Olympic Games (in 2000) and twice the African Cup of Nations (in 2000 and 2002). Individually, he is named four times African player of the year (in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010). But he will never have the Golden Ball. "I could have been a European Golden Ball once or twice, but I have not been. I do not claim it because the most important for me is the collective titles, "explained the main interested in BeIN Sports in 2014.

Frankly speaking off and on the grounds

If he did not have the supreme individual award for a European footballer, Samuel Eto'o also thinks he knows he "has not been always recognized". And he explains: "We Africans sometimes feel disadvantaged. When I arrived in Barça, I said, 'I will work as the black man that I am to live like you whites.' You have to do three or four times more than others to be recognized. "

This outspoken out and on the field, Samuel Eto'o has had throughout his career. Humor and the ego too, like the summer transfer window 2018 where an improbable rumor sends him to play in Nîmes. The French club then proposes to launch a virtual jackpot to finance the transfer of the player, who proposes ... to contribute.

He also knows how to take the initiative for more serious causes, such as when he launched Operation Yellow Whistle Blower FC in 2015 to help the victims of Boko Haram. Moreover, since 2014, a foundation that bears his name works in West Africa to help disadvantaged populations, particularly in the field of health, education or sport.

After hanging up the crampons, Samuel Eto'o will certainly not abandon this activity for humanitarian purposes. In his message posted Friday, he also speaks of a "new challenge". Does this refer to the new role he will play in the African Football Confederation (CAF)? CAF President Ahmad Ahmad announced in mid-July that Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba, also recently retired, will become collaborators with "official functions".

"Didier Drogba will reflect on improving the status of the African player. Samuel Eto'o will take care of the relations with the Federations and the Confederations ", detailed Ahmad Ahmad, drawing for the two ex-footballers a role with the political contours. But a career in politics, "it's not my dream," admits Samuel Eto'o in an interview with France Football in 2018. The former Indomitable Lion has never hidden his desire to spend a day of land bench to become a coach. In the meantime, Samuel Eto'o will still keep a foot in football thanks to his son, Étienne. The child of "little Milla" is currently playing at Real Mallorca, a club that has introduced the world of football to the name of a certain Samuel Eto'o.