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08.12.2007 14:01
Eto'o: “The team needs me, and I need the team”
Roger Bogunyà
Eto'o has recognized that he needs the team as much as the team needs him. The striker assured us that he felt in “great physical form”, and added that “if we’re all together, going in the same direction, then we can change things”.
Eto’o has given a press conference a day before he returns to the pitch after a three-and-a-half month absence through injury. He showed that he was willing to help the team, thanking everyone who had helped him. He also assured us that he’d worked hard to recover, and that he and Ronaldinho still had a lot of football to offer.
They need each other
Samuel Eto'o is aware of what he can bring to the team. His three
characteristics are his skill in pressurising the rival team, his speed and his goal-scoring
ability. He is also aware of what he needs from his team-mates in order to do what he has to. For
this reason, Barça’s number 9 believes “the team needs me, and I need the team”.
“I don’t think I change everything, but if we’re all together, going in the same direction, then we can change things”, he added. The striker also assured us that he felt in “great physical form after having worked hard on it”.
Very grateful
I
n reference to his recent injury, Eto'o thanked everyone who had helped
him get back on form: “I’d like to thank ‘Gordi', Juanjo Brau, Alejandro
Echevarría, team-mates, the management, my family, and Mercedes Milá”. Eto’o especially
thanked Juanjo Brau: “I’ll be thinking of him if Rijkaard lets me play on Sunday. He
has been a great motivator to me”.
“We need to support Ronaldinho”
When asked about Ronaldinho, Eto'o said that he saw him as “well, but sometimes he gets unfairly criticised, and it makes me angry”. Eto’o praised the Brazilian saying: He’s so important that if he is going through a bad spell, we need to support him”.
About their partnership on the pitch, Eto’o believes they still have a lot to offer. He’s 27 and I’m 26. There’s still a lot of football inside us”.
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The African Cup
The Cameroon striker didn’t want to talk about his participation in the African Cup. He said
he was just concerned with playing. “They’ll tell me where”, whether it’s
for Barça or Cameroon. If the Blaugrana number 9 takes part, he’ll be away all January, and
as he stated, it’s the club and Cameroon Football Association that have to come to an
agreement.
