samuel eto'o international honour

Africa Cup of Nations winner in 2000 and 2002, Nations Cup record scorer, 2000 Olympics gold medallist, Confederations Cup runner-up in 2003, appeared at four World Cups (joint-record in Africa)
Eto'o contested six Nations Cups in all, and leaves a major mark on the tournament by virtue of being its all-time top scorer. His 18 goals, four more than the next best total, is a benchmark likely to stand for some considerable time.
In between those back-to-back titles came a stunning Olympic gold medal as Cameroon beat Brazil on the way to the final, where they overcame a Spain side boasting Xavi and Carles Puyol.
Douala-born Eto'o played a major part in defeating the Spanish, scoring the goal that brought Cameroon back to 2-2 and forced extra-time, and then slotting home his kick to help win the penalty shootout.
But as Cameroon's top talents fell away, Eto'o struggled to fill the void; not that one man, however talented, can carry a national side as Liberia's George Weah, the only African to ever be crowned Fifa World Footballer of the Year, can attest.
Mboma himself told BBC World Service programme Newsday on Tuesday: "In our time, we had four to five leaders - Foe, myself, Raymond Kalla, Song - and when we left, Eto'o was almost alone in the team."
But rather than any footballing deficiencies it was Eto'o's squabbles with team-mates - he accused them of refusing to pass to him and also had an ugly feud with Alex Song - that dented his legacy.
"Under his captaincy, Eto'o did not help his team become stronger," added Mboma. "He wasn't negative to his team-mates, but he wasn't that positive. He was more for himself rather than the whole squad, which is probably the reason why Cameroon have not won a title for a long time."
Despite being national captain, there was little love lost between Eto'o and the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot).

Eto'o (back, second from right) celebrates with team-mates after winning the 2002 Nations Cup in Mali

In 2011 the former Chelsea man put aside his differences with his team-mates to lead a revolt against Fecafoot - with players so tired of receiving payments late they refused to honour a friendly against Algeria.
Eto'o's actions earned him a 15-match ban that was later reduced to eight months, yet he remained in exile after his suspension ended as he railed against the "amateurish and poorly-organised" national set-up.
Rushed back into action after a meeting with representatives of the country's president, Eto'o's Cameroon failed to qualify for the 2012 and 2013 Nations Cups - an astonishing record considering they had reached at least the quarter-finals at the previous seven tournaments.