Samuel Eto’o is the main character in my book entitled Un Lion Parmi Les Hommes (A Lion Among Men). I met him several times during his many visits to Nairobi (Kenya). I was his interpreter then and this privileged position allowed me to discover his human side. Much has been said about Samuel Eto’o, but my book brings forward a hitherto unknown facet of the biggest African football star. I am convinced that all football admirers, fans of the Indomitable Lions in particular, will devour my book with passion. To serve as a preview, here’s a helpful Q&A.
Why did you think it was important to write a book about Samuel Eto’o?
When I was younger, my grandmother always talked to me about Mbappé Leppé, one of the greatest legends of Cameroonian football. I tried to do some research to deepen my knowledge, but found very few images and information about him. On his Wikipedia page, his life is described in five sentences. It’s an aberration!
When I talk about Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o to my children, they must be able to read books on these legends. Biopics must be made to immortalize these giants of African football.
Africa has plenty of heroes like Thomas Sankara and Nelson Mandela. You could have written a book about them. Samuel Eto’o is just a footballer …
That’s true, but football is more than just a sport in Africa. Footballers are our best ambassadors. In the 1990s, whenever I traveled and revealed that I was Cameroonian, everyone would tell me: “You come from the country of Roger Milla!” Then, in the 2000s, Cameroon became the country of Samuel Eto’o.
I give these examples to highlight the impact of sport in our society. Football is much more than a game. If it was properly handled and nurtured, it could be a real driver for economic growth. Unfortunately, our leaders have not yet managed to put football to good use.
Can you give us more details about the book?
The events covered in the book take place between 2010 and 2012. This is a crucial period in Samuel Eto’o’s career. At that time, he was the captain of the Cameroon national team and also the highest paid player in the world. Despite his success at club level, he suffered with the national team and was growing disenchanted with the accumulating failures of Indomitable Lions.
In my book, Un Lion Parmi Les Hommes, I refer to the 2010 World Cup fiasco where the Indomitable Lions suffered three consecutive losses. The Cameroonian players who participated in the South African expedition were all talented. They were handsomely paid, but the results were sorely lacking. What happened? The Cameroonian people need explanations.
The failure at the 2010 World Cup was a trauma for France too. After the debacle of Knysna, the French Football Federation conducted its investigation and imposed sanctions on the guilty parties. In Cameroon, nothing happened. The team failed spectacularly, but there was no post mortem. And since there were no official answers as to what happened, the general public took to rumors (often baseless) to draw conclusions.
Why is the book coming out now? Why did not you publish it earlier?
The book is coming out now because I hesitated to publish it for a long time. I had doubts; I was afraid of getting it wrong; I was a frightened I’d come off looking ridiculous. My family and friends supported me a lot during the process and it was thanks to their encouragement that I was able to complete the project.
Any Last words?
I would like to add three more things:
- The book Un Lion Parmi Les Hommes will be released on May 29th. You can preorder it on Amazon by clicking here.
- I have very little visibility on the Amazon site. I would urge you to join my crowdspeaking campaign to help me solve this problem. You can click here to join.
- Lastly, the book will have a companion album, here is the first excerpt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1kfDcNtuE
Editor’s Note:
The original opinion piece can be found on ‘Un lion parmi les hommes‘
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