Samuel Etoo

Cameroon's and Barcelona's superstar; his speed and skills make him one of the best forwards in the world!

Samuel Eto'o (born March 10, 1981 in Nkon, Cameroon) is a professional footballer, who currently plays for FC Barcelona. He is a distinguished forward who is known for his outstanding positional awareness, speed, and finishing. His talents have made him a leading scorer for both club and country and one of the world's best strikers. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 2003, 2004, and 2005, making him the first player to win the award three years in succession since it has been handed out by the Confederation of African Football. He was recently named as one of the strikers for the FIFPro World XI team for the second consecutive year. His younger brothers David and Etienne are also professional footballers.
Samuel Eto'o was described in 2006 by football pundit Tommy Smyth as one of the best pure strikers in the world. He is known for his quick pace and agility on and off the ball and an ability to score equally well with both feet as well as his head. His style of play is characteristically daring and he often runs at defenders and goalkeepers with total confidence in his ability to get the ball past them. Because of his slight frame, Eto'o relies on nimbleness and timing rather than strength to score, and he frequently scores on the first touch after running onto well-placed through balls. He has also been known to use a move in which he passes the ball to himself high over the opposing goalkeeper before running around him, settling the pass, and scoring.
Under Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, Eto'o has played as the central striker as well as on either wing in an attempt to stymie teams who man-mark the Barça front three. Eto'o has adapted very well to the wing positions and has created numerous goals for his team mates while simultaneously scoring a lot of goals himself. In 2005/06 season he became the first player since the 1990 season to score 50 goals over 2 seasons in La Liga.
Eto'o is seen as defensively sound, applying pressure on the ball when his team are not in possession. And the trust Rijkaard placed in his striker's defensive capabilities was evident when he shifted Eto'o to the left flank in the 05/06 Champions League semi-final against Milan to counter the attacking threat of Cafu.

Barcelona
10 March 1981
Source: Wikipedia