Former Bayern Munich defender Samuel Osei Kuffour has disclosed why he believes Samuel Eto’o Fils is the greatest African footballer of all time.
It has been the debate recently of who the greatest player to hail from Africa with Former Liverpool forward Diouf claiming he was the greatest striker to ever come out of the continent, while others may say 1995 FIFA Player of the year George Oppong Weah and many of the Chelsea faithful may tend to make mention Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.
But not Kuffour.
The former Ghana defender who won the 2001 Champions League with Bayern Munich told Goal that Eto’o’s consistency over the years has placed him on top of his list of outstanding footballers from the continent
“It’s difficult to say [who is the greatest African Footballer of all-time] because it’s a different generation now,” Kuffour said.
“When you look at my generation, people may say [Augustine] Jay-Jay Okocha [of Nigeria] was brilliant. When you go to another generation, people may say Eto’o was brilliant.
“For the generation ahead of me, people may say George Weah [of Liberia] was good, Kalusha [Bwalya of Zambia]] was good.
“When you go to the next one, they would say Rabah Madjer [of Algeria] was great. Some people may also say Mahmoud El Khatib from Egypt was good. [You also have] Lakhdar Belloumi [from Algeria]… different, different generations.
“But for me, if you tell me to choose one, I will choose [based on] consistency. I don’t hate anybody, but I have to be strong and firm and choose.
“He may not have won the world player of the year but for me, I think because of the consistency, I’ll give you Samuel Eto’o [as my best of all-time].”
Eto’o won a total of major 15 titles for both clubs – Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter Milan – and country. He has garnered a total of 30 individual awards. His first major success was winning the Spanish Copa del Rey with Real Mallorca in 2002-03.
On an individual level, Eto’o, who stands as the all-time top scorer at Afcon with 18 goals, and also as the all-time top scorer for Cameroon and Real Mallorca, won the African Footballer of the Year awards in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. He finished third in the race for the 2005 Fifa World Best Player award. These are only few of his many individual accolades.
Eto’o started his football career in 1997 and ended this year in Qatar with Qatar SC. He played and won most prestigious title across the world.
