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YAOUNDE. — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho may have doubted the age of Samuel Eto’o but Cameroon coach Volker Finke has 100 percent confidence in the veteran soccer striker.
“Samuel is coming back to his best level at Chelsea,” the German gleefully told reporters at a gathering of national coaches ahead of the World Cup next month.
“He is the best Cameroon footballer and can make a big difference come June,” said the 66-year-old handler.
With hosts Brazil overwhelming favourites to top Group A, a three-way fight between Cameroon, Croatia and Mexico is looming for second place and a knockout-stage ticket.
Mourinho was furious when a tape of him cast doubt on the age of the record four-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o was leaked.
No one, however, can doubt the credentials of a player who scored more than 100 goals and won two Champions League titles in five seasons with Barcelona, before claiming a third in his first season with Inter Milan in 2010.
Mourinho made headlines when he suggested in a private conversation that the Cameroonian may be older than he claims.
“The problem with Chelsea is we lack a striker. I have one (Eto’o), but he’s 32. Maybe 35. Who knows?,” Mourinho told a Swiss businessman before the Cameroonian celebrated his 33rd birthday in March. — AFP.
Online Reporter