Zürcher Nachrichten - Favourite son Eto'o is pride of Cup of Nations host city Douala

EUR -
AED 3.77821
AFN 75.090387
ALL 98.182709
AMD 409.487744
ANG 1.853566
AOA 940.680458
ARS 1070.564367
AUD 1.653789
AWG 1.854109
AZN 1.749565
BAM 1.95269
BBD 2.076613
BDT 125.22181
BGN 1.954833
BHD 0.387652
BIF 3009.777147
BMD 1.028632
BND 1.406474
BOB 7.106683
BRL 6.216744
BSD 1.028472
BTN 88.885456
BWP 14.434943
BYN 3.365773
BYR 20161.18663
BZD 2.06593
CAD 1.475094
CDF 2916.171527
CHF 0.939453
CLF 0.037503
CLP 1034.947991
CNY 7.541004
CNH 7.559334
COP 4415.86562
CRC 516.782082
CUC 1.028632
CUP 27.258747
CVE 110.473317
CZK 25.230391
DJF 182.808411
DKK 7.46015
DOP 63.464969
DZD 139.76949
EGP 51.875249
ERN 15.42948
ETB 129.917339
FJD 2.39167
FKP 0.847168
GBP 0.842228
GEL 2.921366
GGP 0.847168
GHS 15.275182
GIP 0.847168
GMD 74.06188
GNF 8903.838003
GTQ 7.939434
GYD 215.077503
HKD 8.010826
HNL 26.20991
HRK 7.590839
HTG 134.327398
HUF 411.458447
IDR 16836.699531
ILS 3.71043
IMP 0.847168
INR 88.904047
IQD 1347.507882
IRR 43292.542199
ISK 144.882873
JEP 0.847168
JMD 160.763994
JOD 0.729609
JPY 161.028252
KES 133.205446
KGS 89.953147
KHR 4156.701334
KMF 491.917539
KPW 925.768888
KRW 1497.086445
KWD 0.317364
KYD 0.857031
KZT 545.43673
LAK 22444.749512
LBP 92113.993354
LKR 304.048778
LRD 194.940606
LSL 19.48181
LTL 3.037283
LVL 0.62221
LYD 5.096881
MAD 10.355267
MDL 19.315148
MGA 4839.713586
MKD 61.52794
MMK 3340.956517
MNT 3495.291547
MOP 8.250022
MRU 40.990859
MUR 48.222063
MVR 15.846103
MWK 1785.705246
MXN 21.08569
MYR 4.627824
MZN 65.739573
NAD 19.482234
NGN 1600.032681
NIO 37.781567
NOK 11.654179
NPR 142.21791
NZD 1.832832
OMR 0.396025
PAB 1.028462
PEN 3.874341
PGK 4.07542
PHP 60.12096
PKR 286.62832
PLN 4.255977
PYG 8115.037888
QAR 3.744992
RON 4.973949
RSD 117.088139
RUB 105.434227
RWF 1425.683912
SAR 3.860114
SBD 8.717846
SCR 15.535634
SDG 618.207499
SEK 11.478206
SGD 1.407205
SHP 0.847168
SLE 23.347691
SLL 21569.898032
SOS 587.866446
SRD 36.110148
STD 21290.604998
SVC 8.99867
SYP 13374.272871
SZL 19.482369
THB 35.611435
TJS 11.241199
TMT 3.600212
TND 3.312035
TOP 2.409161
TRY 36.474873
TTD 6.986942
TWD 33.898983
TZS 2587.009398
UAH 43.479185
UGX 3798.987294
USD 1.028632
UYU 45.348227
UZS 13352.155558
VES 55.439668
VND 26111.822582
VUV 122.121253
WST 2.88102
XAF 654.914092
XAG 0.033581
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.77993
XDR 0.792745
XOF 656.787379
XPF 119.331742
YER 256.14482
ZAR 19.327048
ZMK 9258.922862
ZMW 28.565511
ZWL 331.219075
  • JRI

    0.1335

    12.23

    +1.09%

  • BCE

    0.1900

    22.73

    +0.84%

  • BCC

    3.3000

    126.91

    +2.6%

  • RIO

    0.1050

    60.485

    +0.17%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    11.47

    +2.01%

  • CMSD

    0.3950

    23.595

    +1.67%

  • CMSC

    0.3200

    23.2

    +1.38%

  • RBGPF

    -1.3300

    60.67

    -2.19%

  • NGG

    1.3400

    57.61

    +2.33%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    6.91

    -0.58%

  • GSK

    0.5350

    32.615

    +1.64%

  • AZN

    0.0750

    65.445

    +0.11%

  • BTI

    -0.0900

    35.63

    -0.25%

  • RELX

    0.8500

    46.93

    +1.81%

  • VOD

    0.2050

    8.455

    +2.42%

  • BP

    0.0150

    31.105

    +0.05%

Favourite son Eto'o is pride of Cup of Nations host city Douala
Favourite son Eto'o is pride of Cup of Nations host city Douala

Favourite son Eto'o is pride of Cup of Nations host city Douala

Samuel Eto'o left for Europe to become one of the greatest African footballers of all time but it was in the city of Douala that he first made his name and where residents continue to idolise the former Barcelona superstar.

Text size:

Cameroon's economic capital is a loud and chaotic port city, hot and humid.

It is here that the country's Indomitable Lions will face Gambia in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Saturday as Cameroon come to Douala for the first time in the tournament having played their previous matches in Yaounde.

Eto'o, who also starred for Inter Milan and wore the number nine for his country, moved to Douala with his family from the capital as a young boy.

He was raised in an unremarkable house on a dusty street in New Bell, an impoverished district where the locals are only too happy to talk about the man who put their neighbourhood on the map.

"He grew up here but he was blessed by God," says Valentine, a 49-year-old caterer sheltering from the scorching mid-afternoon sun just across the street from the Eto'o family house.

"Eto'o has helped a lot of people in this neighbourhood. Recently he came back here and laid on food for everyone in New Bell."

- Immortalised -

Just along the street is a bar where the exterior walls are decorated with pictures of the four-time African Footballer of the Year.

Nearby the moto-taxis that can make navigating the streets a hazardous task pass in front of a statue of Eto'o in the green, yellow and red of Cameroon, with whom he won the AFCON in 2000 and 2002.

Eto'o was just 20 when he led the Indomitable Lions to that second continental title and it would be another two years before he signed for Barcelona and teamed up with players including Ronaldinho and a very young Lionel Messi.

In Douala it was clear Eto'o was a special talent from a very young age.

"He was little, lively and loved football," recalls Jean Rene Noubissi, who took Eto'o under his wing as he was starting out at local side UCB.

"He calls me his first president. I helped oversee his development.

"When he played for UCB he scored goals in every game and I would give him a little bonus as a reward.

"Even then you could see the discipline he had. He believed in his potential and knew where he wanted to go."

The walls of Noubissi's cramped office in the Akwa business district are covered in pictures of him with Eto'o, including one with Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

- 'Role model' -

Eto'o was on the books at Real Madrid and starred for Mallorca before joining Barcelona, but before all of that he went to France to try his luck only to return home with his tail between his legs.

"When he came back he had no club but he was still very famous, everybody knew about him in Douala. When he was just 14 he was the one feeding the whole family," says Hiondi Nkam, author of a new book about Eto'o called "Les Anges et Les Demons" (Angels and Demons).

He was not yet 16 when he made his international debut and barely 17 when he went to the 1998 World Cup after newly-appointed coach Claude Le Roy decided he could not ignore such a precocious talent.

"I wanted to give a chance to all the locally-based players to see if there were any gems among them, and I saw this young player who seemed so comfortable tactically and so intelligent," Le Roy told AFP.

"He was just a kid but he wasn't afraid of all the big names in the team."

Having retired from playing in 2019 aged 38, Eto'o has quickly transitioned into a leadership role off the field and in December, he was elected president of Cameroon's Football Federation.

"People believe that he is not there for money or fame, but he is there to help," says Nkam, who sums up what Eto'o means to New Bell.

"He is a role model. He was selfish on the field of play but very, very human off it. Some people would say that after God comes Samuel Eto’o."

P.E.Steiner--NZN