”In the arena of human life the honours and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” --Aristotle
With his eagerly awaited mega-money move from Inter Milan to Russian club Anzhi Makachkala, Samuel Eto’o Fils joins the pantheon of players that can be mirrored in Harvey Mackay’s definitive book: We Got Fired!.. And That It’s The Best Thing That Ever Happened To US.
The £17.5 million deal with Anzhi would reportedly crown Eto’o as the highest paid footballer in the world as it eclipsed Cristiano Ronaldo’s estimated £12 million annual salary at Real Madrid
In this book, Mackay shared experiences of icons and celebrities notably Muhammad Ali( former Heavyweight Champion of the World); Larry King ( host of now rested Larry King Live on CNN); Billie Jean King( winner of 39 Women’s tennis Grand-Slam Titles);Donald Trump ( estate mogul) amongst others- these are men and women who in Mackay’s words ‘turned modern bummer into a major blessing.’
We don’t have to look further than Eto’o as one player that epitomised such accolade as espoused by Mackay after he was shown the exit at Barcelona in 2009. The Cameroonian was one of the stars of the 2009 all-conquering Barcelona and he even scored the opening goal when the Spanish side beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the UEFA Champions League trophy in Rome. On top of this, Eto’o was Barcelona’s top striker that season scoring 30 goals which in no small part helped the club secure the La Liga trophy. But all of these paled into insignificance when Eto’o was forced out of the Camp Nou on the orders of coach Pep Guardiola.
"I am convinced that the best thing for Barca is for Eto'o to leave. Could I be mistaken? Maybe so,”
Guardiola advanced his points."But I am here to make these decisions.
“I feel it is the best for the team, for the club, but I don't dare say for Samuel. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's my responsibility. It's my decision. There are no behavioural reasons, you shouldn't look for them. I am not here to change anyone's character, but I can decide on which players I want to count on for the season,” he added.
Eto’o was unceremoniously off-loaded to Inter Milan to the chagrin of many who felt he was given the short end of the stick all because he was a Blackman. Would Pep have done same to Messi or Xavi if found guilty of causing ripples in the dressing room? What manner of coach is Pep to sacrifice a player of Eto’o status over petty issues? Is this not classic case of spitting one’s nose?
“Pep is a great Coach. We had some disputes, as happens in every side, but when I left Barcelona I had no remorse for what I did, on the field or off it,” Eto’o said afterwards."Pep is human like me. He made a decision for the good of Barca, I do not share [his view], that's life.”
Despite Guardiola’s misgivings , I equally then reasoned that Eto’o might have fell on his canvas at Barca but he would rebound all because of his never-say-die spirit that has stood the test of time since the day he dreamt of making football a career.
Of all the legendary African I’ve been privileged to interview at close quarters, no one has caught my fancy as much as Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o Fils. He is a player that practically fought his way to the top. Overtime, I cannot but admire his resilience after that my first encounter with the then teenage on October 3, 1998 in company of Cameroonian sport journalist, Frank Sone-Bayern who served as an interpreter while I conducted an interview with him.
He was still fresh from the France’98 World Cup where he was on record as the youngest player at the tournament though he did not kick a ball as the indomitable Lions crashed out in the First Round .
Yet, Eto’o was audacious as we spoke that fateful day, telling me that his ambition as a player was nothing but to be the best in the world.
“I dreamt of becoming a doctor or lawyer but my passion for the game of football took the better part of me,” said the then small Eto’o who was discovered at the famous Kadji Sports Academy in Cameroon. “Since footballers are now respected members of the society, I have no regret for taking it (soccer) as a career. My ambition is to be the best I can be.”
To say that Eto’o has best the record is perhaps stating the obvious. In 2010 according to Wikipedia (the online free encyclopedia), Eto’o became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Internazionale. He was also second player to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals ( he scored against Arsenal in 2006) and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa, and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams. He is the most decorated African player of all time having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.Last season, Eto’o scored a remarkable 37 goals in all competitions for Inter Milan last season where he won the World Club Cup.
In his generation, Eto’o stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best players in the world and would have walked away with the FIFA Ballon d’Or with some luck. In 2005, he mounted the rostrum with Ronaldinho, Frank Lampard.
“It is the dream of any player to be the best in the world,” Eto’o said at the 2005 FIFA Gala Awards. “But just to be here with these two is great. I remember getting up at 3am, 4am to buy fish now I have all this through football.”
This brings us back to the kernel of this discourse. What would have happened to Eto’o if he failed to lift himself after he was unceremoniously thrown away by Guardiola at Barcelona? What would have happened to his career if he was not ready to fight his way to the top of his trade? What would have been the lot of Eto’o if was gripping over his rejection at Barcelona?
In Mackay’s epistle, Larry King speaks on how best to turn adversity to opportunity: “I’ve always had a survival streak. I come off the floor. Knocked down-get up. I never accept that I’m out. It’s like boxing. I might be knocked down in a round , but I’ve never thought I’d lose the fight. I’ve always felt confident.
“Sometimes getting fired is a break. You can look at firing two ways. Firing can be a terrible tragedy. Or you can say: I don’t have to go there tomorrow, so I can make other moves. I can look at other avenues and can fight back...and have the time to fight back. Someone once told me that it isn’t the tragedy of life, it’s how you react to the tragedy.yoy know, the half-empty glass...”
Undoubtedly we can look at Eto’o from this prism and he too could afford to say that: I got fired!.. And that it’s the best thing that ever happened to me .The rejected stone by Guardiola at Camp Nou has indeed becomes the capstone as the highest paid footballer in the world!
The worthy example of Patrick Ubah
Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) stated matter-of-factly: ‘I am in the habit of looking not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in which it is offered.’
It is on this premise that I’m hoisting Mr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, the managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Company , for hosting the Flying Eagles on arrival from Colombia last week in spite of the fact that they were sent packing from the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in the quarter finals by their French counterparts.
Members of the team and official were each given Galaxy I-Pad plus the sum of N10 million to the team by Ubah and there is no doubting the fact that the gesture deserves applause.
Said Ubah: “It is worthy to note that there is a price for every effort, our efforts are not in vain but it ended making us proud. We humbled many nations, we surprised many continents and today because of what we believe in, we believe we have to encourage you.
“We believe by encouraging you, you will do more and Nigeria will continue to grow above what we are in football. I appreciate the wonderful work you have done and together make our country proud.”
His words resonated far and wide because this is a rare act in this clime. Losers are orphaned while winners are celebrated on end. Ubah has shown a high ideal by rewarding the efforts of the Flying Eagles and I think Corporate Nigeria can take a cue from this.
It is part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by multinationals to fund sport but this is not applicable here with many hiding behind the fact that such fund would be misappropriated. Think many are tired of this customary condemnation hence we must salute those who are ready to oil the progress of Nigerian football as well as other sports.
I equally doff my heart for the likes of Globacom and Samsung for coming to the aid of Nigerian football recently. While Globacom doled out N1.8 billion as the official sponsor of all national teams, Samsung sealed a $1.5 million deal as the Official Electronics of the national teams.
Last year at the 2010 African Footballer of the Year Awards ceremony, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. Chairman of Globacom pledged improved sponsorship to the beautiful game around the continent and this recent sponsorship of the Super Eagles and other Nigeria’s national teams was a step in the right direction.
Of course, many are of the opinion that the packages were too small but what sort of thinking is that?
If every blue-chip brings small part to the table, Nigerian and sports generally, would have been better off than what we have today. Personally, I can’t but echo the sentiments of that Spaniard, Lucius Annaeus Seneca that ‘a gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.’
That unfortunate kidnap of Mikel Obi’s father
I actually refrained from pouring invectives on those who took the father of Super Eagles Chelsea star, John Mikel Obi into custody for almost two weeks asking as usual, a ransom to affect his release.
They drove the old man all the w way from Jos to Kano where they eventually met their waterloo when they were captured and later paraded.
I won’t be saying anything new that there is so much insecurity within the society. We have read time and again in the Bible ‘that in the last days, men will be lovers of themselves... lovers of money’ but manner of kidnappers are these for allegedly demanding a staggering N600 billion?
Alice Munro (Lives of Girls and Women) stated as much: "I was amazed as people must be who are seized and kidnapped, and who realize that in the strange world of their captors they have a value absolutely unconnected with anything they know about themselves."
What these miscreants were asking for was actually quantified as almost the annual wage of Mikel at Chelsea. Can you imagine that? Absolute greed corrupts absolutely.
We thank God that the old man is alive to tell the story and anything other than that would have a dire consequence for Nigeria and Nigerian football.
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