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Chelsea – The African Connection (9) – Samuel Eto`o

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he latest in our on-going series relating to those who were born in Africa and who went on to play for Chelsea, is the super-star Samuel Eto`o.

If signing George Weah, back in January 2000, was a coup, then the signing of another superstar striker, Samuel Eto`o, matched that.

After all, Eto`o had been at the top of his game for several years, scoring over 100 goals in five seasons with Barcelona and establishing himself as the record holder of La Liga appearances for an African.

Eto`o also entered his name in the history books by becoming the first player to win back-to-back European continental trebles whilst with Barcelona and then Inter Milan.

Also among his many feats is the fact that Eto`o was the second player to score in consecutive UEA Champions League Finals and the fourth player, in history, to have won the trophy with different teams in consecutive seasons.

However, it was whilst playing for the Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala that Chelsea realised they could add the Cameroon to their squad. Anzhi had spent big-money acquiring a decent squad but their billionaire owner, Suleiman Kerimov, in August 2013, decided to downscale the clubs` ambitions and shrink its operational budget. All its star players were now up for sale!

On 29 August 2013 Chelsea announced that they had signed a one-year deal that would see Samuel Eto`o join the club, for an undisclosed fee. Eto`o scored his first goal for Chelsea against Cardiff City, on 19 October 2013.

His first Champions League goal for Chelsea came against Schalke 04, on 6 November 2013. In his first start in 2014, on 20 January, Eto`o scored his first Premier League hat-trick with Chelsea beating Manchester United 3-1. Ahead of the game Mourinho had suggested Eto`o was an old man with a back problem, Eto`o celebrated one of his goals leaning against a corner flag holding his bad back, much to the delight of the crowd.

Eto`o scored the 300th goal of his club career when he opened the scoring in Chelsea`s 4-0 rout of Tottenham Hotspur. Samuel`s scoring form continued when he notched his 10th of the season away to Galatasaray in the Champions League. In a fixture against Arsenal, a game Chelsea were to win 6-0, Eto`o scored the first goal before going off with an injury.

Samuel`s one-season with Eto`o came to an end when his contract expired and on 26 August 2014, he joined Everton, putting pen-to-paper on a two-year deal.

Mini Fact-File – Samuel Eto`o

Full Name – Samuel Eto`o Fils

Date of Birth – 10 March 1981

Place of Birth – Douala, Cameroon

Position – Striker

Clubs – Kadji Sports Academy, Real Madrid, Leganes (loan), Espanyol (loan), Mallorca (loan), Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea, Everton, Sampdoria, Antalyaspor

International Career – Cameroon U23, Cameroon

If you`d like to suggest somebody you`d like us to cover in our African Connection series then simply e-mail the name of the player to JUVENILED40@HOTMAIL.COM and we`ll do the rest.

Or if you missed the others in the series follow the links below:

Click Here – Celestine Babayaro

Click Here – Geremi

Click Here – John Obi Mikel Part 1

Click Here – John Obi Mikel Part 2

Click Here – Michael Essien

Click Here – Salomon Kalou

Click Here – George Weah

Click Here – Mark Stein

Click Here – Colin Viljeon


Coming soon, a new series – Chelsea – The Spanish Armada

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