Samuel Eto’o wants to leave on a high

Moenchengladbach (Germany): Samuel Eto’o proved his doubters wrong by outshining Chelsea’s other strikers last season and the Cameroon captain is determined to stay in the spotlight for a while yet, despite his advancing years. But it may be tougher for the 33-year-old striker to leave his mark at the World Cup than in the English league. Few give Cameroon much chance of progressing beyond the group stage of the tournament in which they face Mexico, Croatia and hosts Brazil.

The problems lie not just with the other teams. Eto’o accused fellow players in the national side of not passing him the ball last year, adding to friction in the squad which has struggled to live up to the glordays of the 1990 World Cup when Cameroon reached the quarter-finals. Eto’o announced he was retiring from international football in 2013 but quickly reversed that decision, saying Cameroon’s president had pleaded with him to return to the team.

The tournament gives Eto’o a chance to cement his status as possibly Africa’s greatest ever player. He has scored 56 goals in 117 games for his country since making his international debut as a 16-year-old.  But he refuses to consider the Brazil World Cup to be the finale of his international career. “I am going to go to this World Cup and to the next one when I will be 37,” Eto’o had said. He then underscored his point by getting a goal in Cameroon’s 2-2 draw in a friendly against Germany on June 1.

Nicknamed “Little Milla” as a child — after Cameroon striker Roger Milla, who shone at the 1990 World Cup — Eto’o took African football to a new level. He has been named the continent’s player of the year an unprecedented four times.