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Legendary Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and striker, Samuel Eto’o, has claimed that Arsenal and France great Thierry Henry was never on his level.
Eto’o’s attack on Henry surfaced after a leaked video was posted by Footballogue.
Eto’o, who is the current president of Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), played alongside Henry for two seasons at Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.
The three-time UEFA Champions League winner further claimed that the France and Arsenal record goalscorer was not even as good as compatriot Nicolas Anelka.
“I think Thierry Henry was not at the level of Anelka.
“Titi was good, but I knew players. I preferred other players. In any case, he was not at my level. The luck or the bad luck that I had me, was not to play for France.
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“Those who played in France had plus 70 per cent. It’s not because they were strong, but because France sells them better.
“They sold them to us and brought them up to our level.”
Eto’o and Anelka also spent time together at Barca’s Clasico rivals Real Madrid, though with both near the start of their respective careers, they failed to play together for Los Blancos in competitive football.
Prior to Henry’s arrival at Barca, Eto’o played down talk that the Frenchman might replace him at Barca, insisting the two could play in the same side.
He said: “That is not my problem. It is Frank Rijkaard’s one.
“Some journalists wanted to create tension between ‘Titi’ and me. I am laughing. I have ‘Titi’ on the phone all the time. If he comes to Barca, thinking he will put Samuel Eto’o on the bench, I say “no”. We will play together. We will be team-mates.
“I do not enter any controversy. I would like the coach to sign ‘Titi’. He is my friend.”
31 Comments
Henry far better than you! So keep quiet.
How on earth was Titi better than eto’o,explain cos i dnt get it..titi was never in the level of sammy on a personal career and achievements. Stop been sentimental.
Shut up Etooo, you are talking too much nowadays !!!!!
Eto though you were a good player but hemry was better than you. You were good but you were not at Henry’s level. Your statement about France players was also wrong.
Talk about SPEED, SKILLS etc HENRY is FAR BETTER than YOU…
Henry is better than you in all ramifications. So, just keep quiet.
No doubt Eto’o fils was better than Henry but this statement from him is irrelevant and depict his proudness. If i were to make comparison, i will say Eto’o is of same level with the Mbappe we all know.
Everyone has a different opinion, for me Etoo and his goal conversation rate ranks him above Henry. Showboating doesn’t make one player better than the other. Goals win football and we all know who’s deadly than the other. Like he said if he had played for France the value of him Etoo might be astronomical. We can not all be on the same page but I choose Etoo any day any time over Henry.
I agree. Although what he said might be interpreted as arrogance by some, I think he was just being factual – including the part about France selling mediocrity as excellence.
Yes well said Baba!
If WE are to JUDGE FOOTBALL by ONLY GOALS, CONVERTION RATE and all that and remove the ALL ROUND PART then HALLAND will be BETTER than ETO’O and almost EVERYONE ELSE if they all PLAYED in the same ERA cos HIS goal CONVERTION RATE is UNBELIEVABLE…
Eto is better than henry in all level, there is no where on this planet henry comes close to eto, henry was only good for arsenal, just, he was not able to perform elsewhere both for france and Barcelona, eto on the other hand, did it for barca, intermilan and chelsea, i think he won premier league with chelsea, eto is his nations all time highest goal scorer, and africa all time highest goalscorer, he is four time african best player, he won 3 nations cup, he won olimpic, he won four champions league title, he won serie A top scorer, la liga top scorer, champions league top scorer, europe highest goal scorer, he was always a big contender for ballon d or, he led cameroun to confedration cup final, infact drogba is still better than henry. You guys are not appreciating these africans becos they are africans, for me they a legends of the game,
True. Etoo was phenomenal. I think he’s one of the greatest African players.
The day he almost singlehandedly destroyed Chelsea while playing for Everton in the twilight of his career was the day I was in awe of him (The cherry on the cake was he mocking Mourinho with a celebration that mimicked an old man using a walking stick). Classic!
When did ETO’O singlehandedly destroy CHELSEA?
YOU GUYS should be CONFIRMING things before POSTING here..
INFACT it was even DIEGO COSTA that singlehandedly destroyed EVERTON in a 9 GOALS THRILLER.
It ended EVERTON 3 – CHELSEA 6 COSTA scored a BRACE while ETO’O scored just one…
And the one you are talking of ETO’O MIMICKING an OLD MAN, it was still under CHELSEA and MOURINHO…
Eto took Cameroon to confederation final against which team?
Eto got to the final and Henry won it, won World Cup, won Euro Cup…. Henry is also all time highest goal scorer for France.I won’t say Eto is better .
Henry won the World Cup with Zidane, imagine what Eto will do with Zidane? Can Henry Win Afcon with Cameroon? And don’t forget Eto won multiple Champions league scoring monsters of goals. African connection aside Etoo’s killer instinct is just generational and makes him one of the best players to play the game. If Etoo was French nothing will stop him from winning world best but we all know the politics behind this things. My only issue is that he shouldn’t be saying these things to the media comparing himself to another player. It is disrespectful because they’re all achievers!!!
Thumbs up @ Chima Samuel for this reply. Sean made some point but what most people don’t understand, is quality shows his beautiful head amongst mediocres. If I was the coach of some low quality team, I will be more confident to go with Eto than Henry.
But Like you said ,Eto should respect what Henry, another fantastic player has done for football. He should not have allowed himself to get into such conversation.
@Chima, Can Henry win Nations cup with Cameroon? YES with Issa Hayatou in Charge? Even the worst striker in the world will win with Cameroon.that time. Even Zambian team won it recently against Drogba, Yaya you’re etc.. talk less of Henry.
Back in 2002, El Haji Diouf won the Afro best almost unopposed, it even happened back to back, does that means he’s also better than Henry? That’s how less competitive African best can be sometimes even Abouterika from Alhaly once won 3rd. Compare to the continent that we have the world bests competing for just one slot.
Just like you can imagine Eto’o in French team , also imagine Xavi, Iniesta , Ronaldinho behind Henry in his prime.
Eto’o is good but Henry, Igwe is better.
@Glory I think YouTube videos will do justice because it’s like these people didn’t witness the kind of finishes Etoo applies. Hmmm indeed beauty they say is in the eyes of the beholder. I’m a Madrid fan so I know Etoo better than most of you. Etoo was a nightmare at Barca and Inter Milan. Etoo strikes the ball with precision and his conversion rate plus consistency is unmatchable by Henry. Sometimes it is better not to argue on!
Henry was a player that needs the team to be built around him to score the goals while Eto was that player you bring into any team to score goals n win matches. So I give it to Eto, he was of better quality than Henry in my opinion. A true African legend.
Hmmm… for the only player to both score and assist 20+ goals in a season (2002–03) and a player that started as a winger with many assists and with all those Solo goals he has scored?@Glory I think your Comment is vise-versa. It was Eto’o that scored most of his goals when he played with the likes of Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Xavi even Messi (the Assist Kings) behind him. Even Thiery Henry went to play behind Eto’o from the wings when he got to Barca and still managed 35 goals in 80 games with presence of Ronaldinho, Eto’o himself and Messi. So get your fact right.
Thumbs up brotherman Sean Michaels. Henry was far better than Etoo in every sense of the word.
From the COMMENTS Omo it seems HENRY is LEADING here….
Na a Henry na! Etoo just wants to show himself
Can’t believe how many goalscoring chances Napoli has squandered because they decided not to cross the ball to Victor Osimhen who would have scored at least 4 goals so far incredible!
I can’t believe what I’m seeing much like a gang up!I realized when Simeone starts he gets lots of service,it’s very bad how Osimhen is treated by his teammates and in return he is selfless always looking out for his teammates even when he’s in a better position to score.
I feel really sorry for Osimhen.
Osimeh hartric is yoriyori for Sasolo
Feel so sorry for Osimhen not going to the world cup also feel sorry for Iwobi and a few others they have been fantastic!Ghana killed many dreams don’t they always do?Haha..Better luck next time.
Greenbag, leave story a beg. World cup matter is in the past. At least Selfmade sewers is gone from here. The curse placed on him this time was very strong.
Hahahahhahahahahahwhwhwhahwhhahahaa
Henry is better than Eto! Imagine who is boasting.
Eto is a legend but he is spewing rubbish here. Sounds salty, he did not make the grade with the French national team but Henry! ETO should show us his world cup medal? I will wait. He should also show us his statue outside any football club in Europe? Besides, must he devalue Henry to increase his value? The Fans should be the ones to state the claim and not him. I am not sure they named a car park after him.