Samuel Eto'o Fils, a Cameroonian professional footballer, was born on March 10, 1981, and currently plays as a striker for Qatar SC. During his prime, he was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world and is considered one of the greatest African players of all time.
As a precocious talent, Eto'o moved to Real Madrid at the age of 16, but due to competition in his position, he had several loan spells before signing with Mallorca in 2000. He scored an impressive 70 goals for the team.
Eto'o's impressive form led to his move to Barcelona in 2004, where he scored over 100 goals in five seasons and became the record holder for the most number of appearances by an African player in La Liga. He won La Liga three times and was a key member of the Barcelona attack, alongside Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, that won the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto'o scoring in the final.
He was also part of a front three of Messi and Thierry Henry that won the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto'o again scoring in the final. Eto'o is the second player in history to score in two UEFA Champions League finals.
At Barcelona, Eto'o came in third for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2005 and was twice named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI, in 2005 and 2006.
In 2010, he signed with Inter Milan, where he became the first player to win two European continental trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Inter. He is the fourth player in Champions League history to have won the trophy two years in a row with different teams.
After brief spells with Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea, Everton, and Sampdoria, Eto'o found prolific form again in the Süper Lig with Antalyaspor, having scored 44 goals in 76 league games. In 2015, he received the Golden Foot Award.
As a member of the Cameroon national team, Eto'o was a part of the squad that won the Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympics and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002. He has participated in four World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations.
Eto'o is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 18 goals, and is Cameroon's all-time leading scorer and third most capped player, with 56 goals in 118 caps. He announced his retirement from international football in August 2014.
