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Sunday, 26 December 2010 11:15
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Inter Milan 29-year old striker crowned a year of unprecedented club success with the award, which was handed to him in Cairo on Monday, as he finished ahead of perennial rival, Didier Drogba of Cote d'Ivoire, and Ghana's Asamoah Gyan in the polling.
The Cameroun captain has now achieved more honours and won more major medals than any other of the continent's players but is reluctant to accept that he might be Africa's best ever. He told Reuters after accepting his award: 'That would be impossible to say.
'To win the Footballer of the Year four times is to create a new record but I don't think it gives me the right to say I am the best. There were greats in previous generations who had different challenges and situations to mime.
'You can't really compare the times. Now there are youngsters who are climbing the ladder of success behind me and who are coming up really fast. Who is to say who is the best?'
But there is a case to be made that Eto'o's achievements are unsurpassed by any of the other top footballers to emerge from Africa. Monday's award beat Abedi Pele's trio of successive African Footballer of the Year accolades in the early 1990s.
At international level, Eto'o has competed at three World Cup finals, captaining his country at this year's tourney in South Africa. He has won the Africa Nations Cup twice and 18 goals in six finals tourneys are a record that will be tough to overcome. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 2000.
However, it is at club level that he has excelled. He moved to Spain as a teenager and determinedly worked his way through the difficulties of adapting to new conditions and bouts of racism to prove one of the finest strikers in Europe.
At Barcelona, he won two UEFA Champions League winners medals and scored in both the 2006 and 2009 finals, and was victorious again in May final with new club, Inter Milan. With both teams he won domestic league and Cup honours, too.
The baby-faced striker's exceptional speed and finishing ability have set him apart from many of his contemporaries. His achievements overshadow a gallery of legends, the likes of Mozambique-born Eusebio, who played in four European Cup finals but won just once.
Others include Roger Milla, who was named the best African player of the last century and Abedi Pele, who won club honours but never qualified with his country for the World Cup. Eto'o's achievements also easily outshine those of current rival, Drogba.
Nevertheless, he must still match the 1995 achievement of Liberian George Weah, the only African ever crowned World Player of the Year. Eto'o said: 'These honours are not something that you seek out but when they come they give great pleasure. And they motivate too.' Source: NBF News - NBF News
The Cameroun captain has now achieved more honours and won more major medals than any other of the continent's players but is reluctant to accept that he might be Africa's best ever. He told Reuters after accepting his award: 'That would be impossible to say.
'To win the Footballer of the Year four times is to create a new record but I don't think it gives me the right to say I am the best. There were greats in previous generations who had different challenges and situations to mime.
'You can't really compare the times. Now there are youngsters who are climbing the ladder of success behind me and who are coming up really fast. Who is to say who is the best?'
But there is a case to be made that Eto'o's achievements are unsurpassed by any of the other top footballers to emerge from Africa. Monday's award beat Abedi Pele's trio of successive African Footballer of the Year accolades in the early 1990s.
At international level, Eto'o has competed at three World Cup finals, captaining his country at this year's tourney in South Africa. He has won the Africa Nations Cup twice and 18 goals in six finals tourneys are a record that will be tough to overcome. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 2000.
However, it is at club level that he has excelled. He moved to Spain as a teenager and determinedly worked his way through the difficulties of adapting to new conditions and bouts of racism to prove one of the finest strikers in Europe.
At Barcelona, he won two UEFA Champions League winners medals and scored in both the 2006 and 2009 finals, and was victorious again in May final with new club, Inter Milan. With both teams he won domestic league and Cup honours, too.
The baby-faced striker's exceptional speed and finishing ability have set him apart from many of his contemporaries. His achievements overshadow a gallery of legends, the likes of Mozambique-born Eusebio, who played in four European Cup finals but won just once.
Others include Roger Milla, who was named the best African player of the last century and Abedi Pele, who won club honours but never qualified with his country for the World Cup. Eto'o's achievements also easily outshine those of current rival, Drogba.
Nevertheless, he must still match the 1995 achievement of Liberian George Weah, the only African ever crowned World Player of the Year. Eto'o said: 'These honours are not something that you seek out but when they come they give great pleasure. And they motivate too.' Source: NBF News - NBF News
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