It is said about him that he wants to one day become president of Cameroon.
Samuel Eto'o, current president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), is above all an emblematic figure of African football.
At the microphone of France 24, he took part in the game of confidences, confiding his love for Mbappé and Messi while developing his vision for Cameroonian football.
France 24: George Weah is the only African to win the Ballon d'Or, in 1995. Who do you think will be next
?
It's a good question but does the Ballon d'Or policy allow Africans to win it?
Was George Weah the only one [to deserve it]?
When we look at the history of African football, there was Roger Milla in particular who passed without winning.
Also read Roger Milla, the indomitable “Old Lion”: “Cameroonians are fiery players”
Is there injustice?
I do not think so.
But there was Yaya Touré at one point who was the best player in the world.
Yaya Touré, for two or three seasons, was the best player in England, even the best player in the world.
And he never won this European Ballon d'Or.
So does this policy really allow Africans to win?
This is a question we must ask ourselves.
When you were a player, Cameroon had great performances during the CAN but never at the World Cup. Is this a regret
?
It's one of the biggest because we still had some great teams.
But the big problem in Africa is believing.
It's that simple.
People don't realize it.
Very often, when they return to their national teams, players sometimes think they are on vacation.
They relax.
They don't have the same respect for the national team as they do for their club.
And we accumulate poor performances.
In 2022, in Korea and Japan, we had a great team to go far.
There is a footballer who has links with Cameroon and who won the World Cup, it is Kylian Mbappé. Do you understand his decision to leave PSG
?
He's the best player in the world.
I am a Parisian supporter.
It is obvious that I would have liked to continue seeing Kylian in Paris.
But I respect and don't need to understand his decision.
It's his career.
He makes decisions according to his vision.
I have been in his place.
I made decisions that didn't please my late father.
I remember when I left Real Madrid for Mallorca, my dad didn't understand.
He said to me: “Real Madrid is very big. Why are you leaving for a small club that we don’t know?”
And then the future proved me right.
We make choices, we accept them.
We are here to enjoy the player he has become.
It is said that you approached his little brother, Ethan. Could he play for Cameroon?
He is very good.
[He's laughing.]
Listen, we ask a lot of players but to protect them, I'm not going to name them here.
But rather than trying to have dual nationals, we continue to work to make our championship attractive in order to have local players who deserve to play in our national teams.
Football is about money.
You have to invest, have a plan and then work to get a return on investment.
See alsoSamuel Eto'o: "I am believed to intend to become head of state in Cameroon"
Today, the first transfer between Africa and Europe amounts to a maximum of one or two million euros, no more.
The same player, six months later, was sold for between 30 and 40 million euros.
So Africa is losing a lot of money.
It is not in the interest of Europeans for Africa to develop in terms of football.
But we have lived in Europe, we have seen this way of making money and we want those around us who invest in football to be able to make money.
And today we are lucky because we have a president at the head of Fifa who loves Africa.
I don't always agree with Gianni [Infantino] but I will tell you something: if Gianni leaves Fifa and Africa has not had time to achieve its goals, we will have a lot of difficulties, many difficulties.
Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland
?
Kylian Mbappé.
He's a little Cameroonian, that's natural.
Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi
?
Messi.
I saw it happen.
He's close to me in age but I always say he's my son.
I have a special affection for this player.
Ronaldo or Ronaldo the Brazilian
?
Both.
Who is the best player you have played with
?
Patrick Mboma.
And yet, our personal relationship has not always been easy.
Today, I am happy because everything has recovered, everything is back to normal.
I was on the phone with him again earlier and it's always a pleasure.
He was my best attacking teammate in the national team.
At club level, there was Ronaldinho and Messi.
The best defender you faced
?
Rigobert Song... But the luck I had was that I only came across him for five or six days when I came to play with the national team.
It was really difficult.
He trained like he played.
He didn't show feelings, he went all out.
At the club, I knew a boy who, a few years later, became captain of the team where I was at Barcelona, Carles Puyol.
Of all your trophies, what was the most notable
?
My first African Cup... I was in teams that allowed me to perform well but when you are 19 and you win your first African Cup, it's significant.
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