Samuel Eto’o , in full Samuel Eto’o Fils (born March 10, 1981, Nkon, Cameroon), Cameroonian professional football (soccer) player who is considered one of the greatest African footballers of all time.

Eto’o attended the Kadji Sports Academy in Douala, Cameroon, and first came to national prominence while playing for UCB Douala, a second-division club, in the 1996 Cup of Cameroon. At only 16 years of age, he caught the attention of Real Madrid—one of the top teams in Europe—who signed him in 1997, though Eto’o saw little playing time. Nor did he see much action after joining Cameroon when it qualified for the 1998 World Cup but faltered in the first round.

Eto’o made his name playing for Cameroon during the 2000 African Cup of Nations, where he scored four times, including a crucial goal in the Indomitable Lions’ gold-medal victory over Nigeria. His impressive play continued at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where Cameroon defeated Spain for the first Olympic gold in its history. In the Olympic final, with the Indomitable Lions facing a 2–0 deficit in the second half, Eto’o and teammate Patrick Mboma led the comeback with two goals, forcing extra time. After Eto’o’s apparent goal in the final seconds of extra time was called back owing to an offside penalty, the game went into penalty kicks, in which Cameroon prevailed.

Eto’o was lent out to a number of teams by Real Madrid until 2000, when he signed with Real Mallorca of the Spanish League; his $6.3 million contract was the largest amount paid by the club at the time. Internationally, he guided Cameroon to a second African Cup of Nations title and a World Cup berth in 2002. While Eto’o was an impressive player for Mallorca—he became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer—his team was still considered below the top tier of European football, and he was lured to the powerhouse club FC Barcelona in 2004.

Eto’o continued his stellar play in Barcelona. He won his record third consecutive African Player of the Year award in 2005, and Barcelona won Spanish