One of the best strikers of his generation,Samuel Eto’o is making his first move into management.
The 34-year-old signed with Turkish club Antalyaspor this summer, and has now been appointed interim player-manager after former boss Yusuf Simsek had his contract terminated earlier this month.
Eto’o is currently the Super Lig’s leading scorer, grabbing 13 goals in his first 15 matches with Antalyaspor. The club has given the striker three matches to prove himself, and will then re-evaluate the situation after the league’s winter break.
The Cameroonian scored more than 100 goals during his tenure at Barcelona, where he won three La Liga titles along with two Champions League titles. After winning the treble with Barca in 2009, Eto’o moved to Inter Milan where he won the treble in 2010 under Jose Mourinho. He is the only player to win two consecutive trebles with two different teams, and is the only African player to win the Champions League three times.
The striker would be reunited with Mourinho when he joined Chelsea for one season in 2013, then playing briefly for Everton before moving away from the Premier League.
In 2005, Eto’o finished third in the voting for FIFA World Player of the Year, and has been named African Player of the Year a record four times. The top scorer for the Cameroon national team, Eto’o competed in four World Cups and six African Cup of Nations. He won the Cup of Nations twice, and is the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
