Eto'o: When My Father Gave Me His Blessing To Play Football
03 June, 2020
African legend Samuel Eto'o, who spent his best years at FC Barcelona, has revealed the moment and his dad gave him his blessing to play football.
The Cameroon icon enjoyed a remarkable career at the best level, representing clubs such as for example Real Madrid, Barca, Inter, Chelsea and Everton in Europe.
Even today, Eto'o remains the only player to have won back-to-back trebles, with Barca and Inter this year 2010 and 2011, respectively, under two of football's greatest managers in Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.
In a recently available article for FIFA, he recalled that his parents did not know about his passion for the sport, but allowed him to keep playing when they realised how talented he was.
"I vividly remember 1 day I played a casino game in my city and I had to cover up so that you can go play," he said.
"What I didn't know is that my father was with some friends in the bar in front of the field. Everything I did so that day for the reason that game gave me my 'pass' to play football freely. Because my parents didn't know (until that moment) that I appeared to have an all natural talent for the game.
"I was the hero of my neighbourhood from then on game. That day, when I returned home, my father arrived a little later and said: 'You are so good, I saw your match today. I'll speak to your mother in order to keep playing.'
"That's how he gave me a 'pass' to keep playing. I was about 12 or 13 years old. From that moment on, there is no looking back.
"I had the blessing of my dad and you could not keep me off that football pitch. Day or night. From there, it had been one or two years before I visited Europe, and my life changed forever."
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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