Eighteen months after retiring, Samuel Eto’o (40) announced his return to the Den of the Indomitable Lions, on the occasion of the CAN that Cameroon will organize in January and February 2022.

The call of the heart was the strongest. Samuel Eto’o, who celebrated his fortieth birthday on March 10, will temporarily come out of retirement, yet formalized on September 7, 2019, after a last experience in Qatar SC. The former captain of the Indomitable Lions (118 caps, 56 goals), twice winner of the CAN (2000 and 2002) and finalist in 2008, set himself a last goal, before finally turning the page: to help Cameroon to conquer a title on his native soil, where no final phase of the most prestigious of African competitions has been organized since 1972.

The ex-future Lions striker has decided to treat himself to one last lap, and that will be sure to fuel conversations in the months to come. “  Football and Cameroon are my two great passions. If the CAN had not taken place in Cameroon, I would not have decided to come back, with the agreement, of course, of the coach (the Portuguese Toni Conceiçao, editor’s note), with whom I have had several exchanges in recent years. weeks. I know that I will have to find a physical condition to play high level matches, but the CAN is in more than nine months. That gives me a little time. It would be wonderful to stop on a title of African champion, in front of our supporters! “

The example of Roger Milla

Eto’o’s return brings us back to memories thirty years old and which concern another legend of Cameroonian – and African football – a certain Roger Milla. In 1990, a few months before the World Cup in Italy, “the old lion”, then 38 years old had announced his intention to make his comeback, when he had retired from international two years early, and completed quietly his career at Saint-Pierroise, an Honorary Division club on Reunion Island. We know the rest: in a role of luxury joker, Milla scores four goals and actively participates in the course of the Lions, stopped dead by England in the quarter-finals (2-3). “ The case of Roger Milla is of course an example. He had proven, at the time, that we could come back, even without having played at the highest level for long months. “, Continues the former striker of FC Barcelona and Inter Milan. Milla had even resumed at Tonnerre Yaoundé, just after the Italian epic, the thread of a professional career interrupted in 1989 in Montpellier. And appeared, one last time, on the list of players selected to play in the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

“Take part in a few matches, and play a role in the group”

Of course, Eto’o Fils knows that he no longer has the legs to withstand the demands of high-level matches. And it is still too early to say that the striker will seek in the coming weeks to find a club to resume competition. “  During the CAN, my objective will be to participate in a few matches, entering during the game, but also to play a role in the group, to give some advice, to be a bit of a Big Brother. I have experience, I have played CAN, the World Cup, the Champions League, I have played in the best world championships, I think I can bring something to the selection. Samuel Eto’o’s last selection dates back to June 13, 2014, during the match lost in Natal against Mexico (0-1), during the 2014 World Cup. And his last goal dates from the 1June st of the same year, during a friendly match against Germany in Mönchengladbach (2-2). Eto’o already dreaming of his 57 th goal …