Samuel Eto’o issues response to El Hadji Diouf after greatest African player claim
Diouf previously claimed he was the top African player of all time, over the likes of four-time player of the year winner Eto’o and former Chelsea star Didier Drogba
Samuel Eto’o has insisted “there is no debate” over who the greatest African player of all time is, as he rubbished bold claims from El Hadji Diouf.
Discussions around the greatest African player often involve Didier Drogba’s name, while ex-Liverpool bad boy Diouf has recently claimed he is the top star to come from the continent.
Former Barcelona and Real Madrid striker Eto’o won the African Player of the Year award on a joint-record four occasions throughout his career, compared to two each for Drogba and Diouf.
And Eto’o is in no two minds about where he ranks against the pair, and in African football history.
“Even if my brother Diouf the last time, with an extra glass, got a little lost, there is no debate”, said Eto’o, who referenced a video where Diouf appeared to be drunk.
“None of them [Diouf and Drogba] can come and say that they were at my level or better. And it’s not the fact that I say it, it’s a fact, it’s something that is there. I wanted to be number one and I have been throughout my career.”
Diouf was first to win the African POTY award, doing so in back-to-back years in 2001 and 2002.
The Senegalese international was pivotal to his country’s run in the 2002 World Cup, which helped earn him a transfer to Liverpool, from where his career nosedived.
Eto’o was next to collect the crown, winning it in three successive years from 2003-05, each time beating Drogba in second.
Ivory Coast talisman Drogba reversed the proceedings by winning ahead of the Cameroon star in 2007 and 2009, before Eto’o claimed the trophy for a fourth and final time in 2010.
Both Drogba and Eto’o racked up impressive trophy hauls with their respective clubs during their playing days, each winning multiple league titles.
They also each won the Champions League, with Eto’o doing so three times, while Drogba had an integral part to play in Chelsea’s 2012 triumph.
Eto’o also won the African Cup of Nations twice with his country – a feat neither Drogba nor Diouf managed to achieve.
Several other players could also lay claim to being Africa’s greatest player though, with George Weah and Abedi Pele previously dominating the annual award.
Yaya Toure has also won the award four times since Eto’o’s triumphs, while recent years have been fought over between Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Source: Daily Mirror