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Samuel Eto'o
Birth Date: March 10 1981
Birth Place: Nkon
Birth Nation: Cameroon
Height: 180
Weight: 75
Nationality: Cameroon
Position: Forward
Full name: Samuel Eto'o Fils
Samuel Eto'o 01 09 2007 FC Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o expects to be sidelined for 3 months after undergoing surgery on his right thigh on Saturday.
Eto'o, who partially tore the thigh tendon during FC Barcelona's 5-0 friendly triumph over Inter Milan Wednesday, is probably going to miss virtually all the Champions League group stage. His team plays Lyon, Stuttgart and Rangers in Group E.
Doctor Ramon Cugat, who performed an hour long operation on Eto'o, mentioned the forward would not resume training for "at least 2 months", adding that he would remain in hospital until Monday and would require 10 days of complete rest.
Cugat mentioned surgery was necessary because the muscle bore most weight when a player had taken a shot.
"A professional player cannot risk this muscle. Without it, he cannot function properly," Cugat was quoted as saying by news agency Efe.
The 3 time African player of the year spent 5 months on the sidelines last season due to a right knee injury.
The Cameroon forward's absence will at least solve coach Frank Rijkaard's selection headache for a while.
Rijkaard has the task this season of deciding between a quartet of top forwards, Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and recent signing Thierry Henry.
In FC Barcelona's opening game of the season against Racing Santander last Sunday, Rijkaard left Henry on the bench until he replaced Messi in the 2nd half. The game finished scoreless.
FC Barcelona hosts Athletic Bilbao Sunday.
31 08 2007 FC Barcelona's Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o is to undergo surgery on the thigh injury he picked up during the week.
The operation will take place on Saturday morning, the club mentioned on their website (fcbarcelona.com).
Eto'o suffered a partial tear of a tendon in his right thigh 2 minutes after coming on as a substitute in Wednesday's 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the Gamper Trophy.
On Thursday, the club mentioned they expects Eto'o to be sidelined for at least 2 months.
The 3 times African Player of the Year missed a large chunk of last season after injuring his right knee during a Champions League match against Werder Bremen in September 2006.
Having signed Thierry Henry in the close season and with youth team players Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkic pushing for places in the senior team alongside Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Eidur Gudjohnsen, FC Barcelona have no shortage of attacking players.
Barcelona host Athletic Bilbao Sunday in their 1st league match at the Nou Camp this season.
30 08 2007 FC Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o will be sidelined for at least 2 months after straining a tendon in his right leg, as stated by the Spanish league side Thursday.
The Cameroon international sustained the injury in a friendly between FC Barcelona and Inter Milan, dubbed the Gamper Trophy, and won 5-0 by the Catalan side Wednesday.
Eto'o came on as a substitute and lasted only 2 minutes before picking up the injury. No other player was involved.
FC Barcelona, who signed Frenchman Thierry Henry from Arsenal in the summer, have yet to decide whether Eto'o's injury will require surgery.
Last season the Cameroonian forward missed 4 months of the season due to a knee injury.
23 08 2007 Ronaldinho and Giovani Dos Santos will receive European passports next week leaving FC Barcelona with only 2 non-EU players in their ranks.
The duo will swear on the Spanish constitution to complete a long journey towards being given citizenship and will now carry dual nationality.
On Monday, Ronaldinho will appear at the court Gava, only outside FC Barcelona, to go through the ceremony and Dos Santos expects to follow the day after.
"It was in the pipeline for sometime now," Ronaldinho informed Ona FM after appearing in Brazil's triumph over Algeria in Paris in midweek.
"Next week, when I am told, I will go to the court and obtain double nationality."
The move means that Barcelona will have only 2 non-Eu players as Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Toure have yet to be awarded European passports.
Barcelona were hoping to have Dos Santos' application pushed through this week in order for him to be available for the opening game of the season.
With Eto'o, Toure and Ronaldinho occupying the 3 non-EU places for the game Sunday, the Mexican star will miss out.
11 08 2007 Cameroon and FC Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o thinks Europe's highest profile players are worth every penny of their salaries.
Eto'o also thinks salary capping would ruin the game as it is not fair on players who are a commercial success.
"If you are able to generate a lot of money for your club, I think you should earn a share of that," Eto'o said.
"Teams should pay accordingly to the popularity and display of each football player," he added.
Whilst Eto'o admitted that that money can be a divisive factor between the big and small clubs, he maintains the difference in wages between players is justified.
"If you think football wages are high, you should also question whether the wages paid in the NBA basketball league are not too high as well. We require help to ensure football becomes better at each stage, so the best players should charge what they deserve and clubs should pay what they feel each player merits."
Eto'o admitted that however that the negative aspect of big money deals was unwelcome media exposure.
"The load exercised by the media has increased because football is an important source of money," he said.
"In order to sell players we need to marketed correctly. A good way to do it is to invent rumours, this enhances sales, making it a logical tactic to use."
06 08 2007 Cameroon's caretaker coach Jules Frederic Nyongha has recalled FC Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o for this month's friendly in Japan.
Eto'o was on club duty when Cameroon played their last fixture in June, an African Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda.
Hamburg defender Timothe Atouba and Valladolid midfielder Daniel Ngom Kome were also brought back into the team Monday.
Defenders Bill Tchato, Justice Wamfor and Jean Bilayi Ateba and midfielders Armand Deumi, Alioum Saidou and Achille Emana were dropped for the August 22 game in Kyushu.
Squad:
Goalkeepers, Idriss Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Souleymanou Hamidou (Denizlispor)
Defenders, Rigobert Song (Galatasaray), Timothe Atouba (Hamburg), Eric Matoukou (Racing Genk), Geremi (Newcastle United), Stephane Bikey (Reading)
Midfielders, Jean Makoun (Lille), Modeste Mbami (Olympique Marseille), Stephane Mbia (Stade Rennes), Daniel Ngom Kome (Valladolid), Guy Feutchine (St Gallen), Landry Nguemo (Nancy)
Forwards, Joseph Desire Job (Sedan), Achille Webo (Osasuna), Roudolphe Douala Mbella (St Etienne), Idrissou Mohamadou (MSV Duisburg), Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
25 06 2007 France forward Thierry Henry completed his £16 million move from Arsenal to FC Barcelona Monday.
Henry, who turns 30 in August, was unveiled at the Nou Camp after passing a medical and putting pen to paper on a 4 year deal with the Primera Liga side.
'Thierry Henry is a player we have been after for lots of years and now he's here,' Barcelona president Joan Laporta informed a news conference.
'Johan Cruyff would like to sign Thierry Henry for FC Barcelona when he was a young player. When I was elected president in 2003 I would like to sign him , we also would like to sign him last year and today it is a good pleasure to see him here. He is one of the best players in the world and given his quality, experience and commitment he comes to FC Barcelona at the perfect time.'
Henry said, 'I am really pleased to be here. It was a long chase however I am in the end here and happy to be here and I cannot wait to go out there and show what I can do. Hopefully I can be a good asset for the team. I have not set any targets or objectives. It has to be a club target. FC Barcelona is always a club that would like to win everything. I am going to try my hardest to help as much as I can. It has to be a team effort right from the start.'
A Champions League winner's medal was the major omission from Henry's CV whilst at Arsenal, who lost to his new team in the 2006 final, however the Frenchman mentioned he was not prioritising anything at the Nou Camp.
'I must live and breathe FC Barcelona. It is dream for everyone to win the Champions League and I am sure it will be the dream of FC Barcelona to win it again next season,' Henry said.
'It is the only thing I did not triumph [at Arsenal] however the most important thing is that FC Barcelona is successful and they triumph silverware.'
Inspite of rumours of an approach from the Catalan giants last summer, Henry mentioned he has not spoken to coach Frank Rijkaard until he was given permission once both clubs had agreed a deal.
'We had a chat only when I was allowed to speak to FC Barcelona. What we mentioned to each other will stay with each other,' he explained.
Henry also stressed there could be no rivalry with fellow forward Samuel Eto'o, who is a good friend.
'The relationship I have with Samuel is from a long time ago,' Henry added.
'I know a lot of players in the team however on top of that Samuel and I was really close in the past 2 years. He came to see me at my house when I got injured several months ago and I came to see him when he he has an operation (in the early part of last season). I know you guys (the media) would not like us not to be friends however we are friends.'
Henry had mentioned previously one of his reasons for leaving the Gunners was because there is uncertainty over the future of manager Arsene Wenger, whose current deal expires at the end of next season.
However, the France forward mentioned he expects Wenger to see out the remainder of his contract and added, 'I will like him to remain there because it is important for the club. If he goes it will be very difficult, however I cannot talk for someone else. The relationship I had with Arsene was out of this world, you cannot imagine. I was talking to him about private stuff, about anything. That relationship goes beyond me going to FC Barcelona. We did not have a fight (about him moving to the Nou Camp). We sat down and talked and we both respected each other and my relationship with him will always remain whatever happens.'
It was confirm the release clause in Henry's new contract with FC Barcelona is 125 million euros, £84.2 million.
The forward admitted that it was an honour to join the Spanish giants however said compatriots like Lilian Thuram and Ludovic Giuly had not needed to sell the transfer to him.
He added, 'With all the other people who are waiting already in the stands to see me you can never dream for more. What the slogan mentioned that is true, Barcelona is more than a club, whatever the situation at Barcelona the fans are coming because they love the club so much. I speak to them (Thuram and Giuly) all the time because we are friends. It was not a matter of phoning to tell me to come or this or that. My position is to be a FC Barcelona player, it is as simple as that. I do not have the opportunity to change anything, the manager is in control of the situation and some players were here for a long time so I am only going to try and do my best on the pitch.'
Henry spent much of last season on the sidelines for the Gunners however said he has no concerns over his long term fitness.
'I had an injury last season which stopped me playing however if you look at my record of injuries there is only one, so hopefully I am sure I am back for good,' he said.
'Today I had a medical and I passed the medical easily, nothing was bad anywhere. I only require a little more rest and maybe not having played much the season before can be good for this season.'
And the Frenchman again stated his respect to Arsenal, revealing he could have left Emirates Stadium for no other club.
He said, 'I must show respect to Arsenal that is why before I left I went to talk to the website. I would like to be genuine and speak the truth. Hopefully they will appreciate what I have done there and I have certainly enjoyed my time over there. I always mentioned that if I ever left Arsenal it would have been to play for FC Barcelona. I am here right now, no disrespect to anybody however that was my choice. The way FC Barcelona play football, the fans, only being here and seeing what I am noticing right now, it is outstanding. It was always in my mind if I was going to leave it could be for FC Barcelona Football Club.'
Meanwhile, Barcelona president Juan Laporta refuted rumours Wenger would soon be joining him at the Nou Camp.
Laporta said, 'Frank Rijkaard is the best coach that Barcelona have. Respecting Arsene Wenger as a person and a coach, he is a really good coach, however in our opinion, and I hope the opinion of our players, Frank is the best.'
24 06 2007 Samuel Eto'o has finished speculation about his future after saying that he was reassured of his place at FC Barcelona next season by president Joan Laporta.
Eto'o will be joined at the Camp Nou by Arsenal's Thierry Henry next season and the Cameroon international is looking forward to the prospect of helping the Catalan giants regain their La Liga title.
The former Real Mallorca forward was tipped to leave Barcelona for either AC Milan, Man Utd or Liverpool in the summer.
"The talk about Milan has finished," said Eto'o.
"Laporta and the board have mentioned that I am staying and I have always mentioned to them that I never thought about leaving. I am excited about the plans for next season. The fact that the club have made it clear that they would like me is good as well. I have a close relationship with the president and can said that I would stay here for life due to him."
19 06 2007 FC Barcelona chief Joan Laporta mentioned that Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho are not for sale.
Both Nou Camp superstars were linked with AC Milan in recent months, and the Rossoneri confirm in the past week that signing Eto'o is their number one priority in the summer.
But Laporta mentioned that that inspite of the Catalan giants missing out on the La Liga title in the most agonising of fashions to bitter rivals Real Madrid, both players will still be with the club next season.
He also mentioned that coach Frank Rijkaard will stay in charge of the team.
Laporta informed a press conference, "The club would like Ronaldinho and Eto'o to remain and the coach agrees."
Laporta added that Eto'o, also linked with Man Utd and Liverpool, and Ronaldinho have both said they too would like to remain put in FC Barcelona.
The club are now expects to strengthen considerably in the transfer market, and Laporta mentioned that there will be between 4 and 6 summer signings.
Targets include a central defender, a left back, one or 2 midfield players and one or 2 forwards.
12 06 2007 Liverpool co-owner George Gillett is adamant the club will resist "spending like a drunken sailor" in the summer however says there was no fall out with manager Rafael Benitez over the size of his transfer kitty.
Rumours abounded of a giant war chest being made available to the Reds manager this close season following the takeover by Gillett and fellow American tycoon Tom Hicks earlier this year.
Superstars such as Samuel Eto'o and David Villa were mooted as probable transfer targets for the Merseyside club, however with little business transacted so far in the summer it was suggested that financial restrictions have forced Benitez to lower his sights somewhat.
As a result, reports have claimed that the former Valencia coach is disillusioned with the new regime at Anfield, however Gillett has angrily denied that there is a rift.
"I read that Rafa is throwing hand-grenades at us and making demands, that there is a tension or disagreement between him and the Gillett and Hicks families," Gillett mentioned in The Times.
"Nothing maybe farther from the truth. As far back as February, Rafa laid out a programme for us. Each one of our sports businesses has a core concept. You cannot only flop around looking at opportunities here and there, go left, go right. It has to be part of an integrated plan. We have one at Liverpool, one we understand 100%, think in and support. The plan involves us spending money, however it will be part of a plan, not only spending like a drunken sailor."
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