Samuel Eto’o: the striker who won back-to-back trebles

Samuel Eto'o was a Cameroonian striker who is counted among Africa’s most successful footballers. He won the league, cup and Champions League “treble” with Barcelona in 2009 and with Inter Milan in 2010. According to Football365, he became the first player to win two successive continental trebles with two different clubs. He was named African Footballer of the Year four times. With 56 goals in 118 matches, he is Cameroon’s all-time top scorer¹.

Early life and beginnings

Eto'o was born in Cameroon in 1981. As a teenager he moved to Spain and joined the youth ranks of Real Madrid. During this period he also played for Leganés and Espanyol²⁶. In 2000, Real Mallorca bought him for a club-record fee of about £4.4 million. Over the next four years he scored 70 goals in 165 matches. He left as the club’s all-time top league scorer with 54 league goals¹.

Club career

In 2004, Barcelona signed him for about £24 million. In his first two seasons he scored 63 goals in 92 matches¹. In the Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris on 17 May 2006, Arsenal led 1-0. Eto'o equalised in the 76th minute, Barcelona won 2-1 and he was named man of the match⁴.

In 2008-09, in Pep Guardiola’s side, he scored 36 goals in 52 matches. They included 30 goals in 36 league matches. In the Champions League final against Manchester United in Rome on 27 May 2009, he scored the first goal in the tenth minute from an Andres Iniesta pass. Barcelona won 2-0 and completed the treble⁵. For Barcelona he scored 130 goals in 199 matches¹.

In the summer of 2009 he moved to Inter Milan in an exchange deal that brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona. Under coach José Mourinho, Inter won the Italian league, the Italian Cup and the Champions League in his first season³. Eto'o thus won a treble for the second year running. With Inter he also won the 2010 Club World Cup and the Italian Cup again in 2011. He scored 53 goals in 102 matches¹.

In later years he played for Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, then Chelsea and Everton in England, Sampdoria in Italy, Antalyaspor and Konyaspor in Turkey, and finally Qatar SC. In his only season at Chelsea he scored 12 goals in 35 matches, including a hat-trick against Manchester United¹. In September 2019, aged 38, he announced his retirement².

International career

With Cameroon, Eto'o won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002. Cameroon won the football gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. According to AFP, Eto'o scored in the final against Spain and also converted his penalty in the shoot-out. He was part of Cameroon’s squad at four World Cups: 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014³.

With 18 goals, he is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations. With 56 goals in 118 matches for Cameroon, he is the country’s top scorer and its third most capped player¹².

Style of play

Eto'o was a fast, agile and tireless striker who scored with both feet and his head. At Barcelona he was the main striker. His 30 goals in 36 league matches in 2008-09 show his finishing ability¹. Besides scoring, he was known for his relentless running and for helping in defence⁶. Goals in big finals became his trademark: he scored in both the 2006 and 2009 Champions League finals⁴⁵.

Statistics

These figures cover all official matches and were taken from Football365 and Football Italia on 20 October 2026¹². According to AFP, his league goals for Barcelona were 108 in 145 matches³. Figures for Real Madrid, Leganés, Espanyol, Anzhi, Everton, Sampdoria, Antalyaspor, Konyaspor and Qatar SC are not in the table because no other source confirmed them⁶.

Honours

• UEFA Champions League: 2006, 2009 (Barcelona), 2010 (Inter) [1][4][5]
• Spanish league: three times [1][3]
• Italian league: 2010 [1]
• Italian Cup: 2010, 2011 [1]
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2010 [1]
• Africa Cup of Nations: 2000, 2002 [3]
• Olympic gold medal: Sydney 2000 [3]
• African Footballer of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010 [1]
• Most goals in Africa Cup of Nations history: 18 [1]

Legacy

Eto'o started at a mid-sized club like Mallorca and went on to win successive trebles with two of Europe’s biggest teams. He contributed directly to those successes by scoring in finals⁴⁵. In 2021, Football365 wrote that, given his achievements, he had not received in England the recognition he deserved. His record of 18 goals in the Africa Cup of Nations still stands¹.