A good choice
Tuesday 27th November 2007

It is great to see that Samuel Eto’o, the Cameroon-Barcelona goal poacher, has been chosen as the face of South Africa 2010. Gifted and irascible, Eto’o deserves the honour of being the face of a World Cup tournament to be held on African soil for the first time ever. In both club and country engagements, Eto’o has distinguished himself as a striker’s striker.

Others may argue that it could have been the Liberian George Weah, the only African footballer that has been named the World Footballer of the Year. Weah was great, but Eto’o is among the very best in the world today. He has been twice named African Footballer of the Year and has been honoured as one of the world’s greatest alongside Ronaldhino. Surely, the honour should have gone to the man from the Ivory Coast, Didier Drogba? Oh, Drogba is a marvel to watch on the pitch, but he has not paid his dues as Eto’o has.

Showing Eto’o’s image about to head a ball is symbolic of South Africa’s determination to go ahead with the tournament, despite scepticism from some quarters. Fifa made a right choice in both person and image. Thanks, Blatter!

With this honour, Eto’o is obliged to give his all to Cameroon as the qualifiers get under way shortly. It will be too bad if Eto’o, the emblem of South Africa 2010, is unable to take Cameroon to the World Cup in South Africa.

Eto’o and the many other African footballers have brought glory to the continent, but they are yet to bring the greatest glory ever in world football – winning the World Cup. The African teams should ensure that the trophy is taken by one of them this time around. Host and win is now a trend in world football. So the African representatives will not be doing anything unusual if one of them lifts the coveted trophy in July 2010.

It is only when one of the African teams is able to win the World Cup in South Africa that Eto’o’s choice as the face of South Africa 2010 will have greater significance for African football. 

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