Samuel Eto'o plays down tag of Africa's greatest after another award
• Striker crowned African Player of the Year for record fourth time
• 'I don't think it gives me the right to say I am the best'
• 'I don't think it gives me the right to say I am the best'
The Cameroon and Internazionale striker took the prize for the fourth time at the awards ceremony in Cairo last night, finishing ahead of the Chelsea striker Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast and Sunderland's Ghanaian front-man Asamoah Gyan. It saw Eto'o surpass Abedi Pele and George Weah, who took the title three times each in the past.
"To win footballer of the year four times is to create a new record but I don't think it gives me the right to say I am the best," Eto'o insisted. "There were greats in previous generations who had different challenges and situations to me. You can't really compare."
The 29-year-old enjoyed little success with his country over the past 12 months as they went out early in both the African Nations Cup and the World Cup in South Africa with Eto'o scoring two goals in each tournament. But he flourished with his Italian club where he scored 16 goals during a highly successful campaign under the then coach José Mourinho, who took them to the treble.
"It is a pleasure to be a winner again, to take it for the fourth time against such top opposition," Eto'o continued on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) website. "Africa now has so many good players and there is lots of talent coming up, so this might be a last chance for me."
Eto'o had been the second favourite behind Gyan, the Ghanaian whose goalscoring exploits guided his nation to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, the first global finals on African soil. Gyan also helped the Black Stars reach the final of Afcon and he added: "He [Eto'o] is a great player who has been a fantastic example to many of us in Africa."