Eto'o proves dreams can come true: Striker's surprise for ill 10-year-old Nathan

Samuel Eto’o easily recalls the time he first set eyes on his hero. Eto’o was eight years old as he waited inside the stadium in Cameroon’s port city of Douala for a glimpse of Roger Milla training with the national team.

It was a few months before the veteran striker went global at Italia 90 and young Samuel was in position from 8am until 4pm to be sure he would see Milla, who reciprocated with a smile, a wave and a pair of socks tossed over the fence into the hands of Eto’o’s father.

‘It was a long wait but I saw him and I was the happiest kid in the world,’ said Eto’o. ‘He was my hero. It was not only what he did for Cameroon. We all had dreams to become footballers and it was thanks to him people realised for the first time that the African countries could produce the players to go far in a competition like the World Cup.’

Make a wish: Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o plays with Nathan, a 10-year-old with a serious liver condition, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation

His hero: Eto'o idolised Cameroon star Roger Milla as a youth

Cameroon advanced to the last eight of the World Cup in 1990 and in Milla’s slipstream came superstars like Eto’o, Africa’s most decorated footballer of all time with three Champions League winner’s medals, three La Liga titles, an Italian title, an Olympic gold, a world title with Inter Milan and two African titles with his country.

‘I don’t know if people look at me in the same way I looked at Roger Milla,’ said Eto’o, with a shrug inside his personalised Chelsea snood. ‘If they do, I want to remind them that everything is possible.’



Nathan Thomas does.

The 10-year-old from Hertfordshire is fighting a life-threatening liver condition and he was at Chelsea’s training ground to play football with his hero, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK.

Anything is possible: Nathan chats with his hero after training

Awestruck: Eto'o has been Nathan's hero since he played as him in a computer game

Nathan is not a Chelsea supporter but has idolised Eto’o ever since picking up a Nintendo DS to play FIFA Soccer 09 and realising the striker, then at Barcelona, was the best around.

Since then, he has followed his career from afar as he moved from Spain to Italy to Russia, and finally to England, where Nathan saw him play live for the first time for Chelsea against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Like all the best heroes, Eto’o responded with a hat-trick in a 3-1 win but was able to go a few steps further with the help of Make-A-Wish and the Chelsea Foundation.

Nathan, wearing an Inter Milan shirt with ‘Eto’o 9’ on the back, arrived at the training ground in Surrey in a white stretch limousine, along with parents Mel and Debbie and his seven-year-old brother Aiden.

Goals: Eto'o scoring in the 2006 CHampions League final - he is the most decorated African player of all time

Setting up: Eto'o and Nathan prepare for training, with help from his brother Aiden, 7

The family watched first-team training before Eto’o joined the boys for a 20-minute kickabout on the indoor pitch.



Nathan was struck dumb when his hero strolled through the doors with a big smile on his face, but, in fairness, the young brothers coped considerably better with the striker than the Manchester United defence had done four days earlier.

Eto’o offered a few tips and soon had Nathan slamming his penalty kicks high into the top corner before they all sat down for a chat ending with a group hug.

‘I don’t know who is the happiest, me or Nathan,’ smiled Eto’o, after signing his vivid Puma boots, a ball and a shirt, then handing them to the boys and inviting the family to join him at Stamford Bridge for Sunday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Stoke.

That's not fair! Eto'o dribbles round his young opponent

Beaming: Nathan smiles at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham, Surrey

Perhaps Nathan can bring with him more luck after the hat-trick. Eto’o, by his own admission, has been slow to adjust to English football since his free transfer from Anzhi Makhachkala in August.

Yet he has such a vast wealth of experience at the top level, coupled with the winning mentality demanded by Jose Mourinho, that he is sure to be an asset for Chelsea as they chase the title.

‘Scoring three goals against a big team like Manchester United is good,’ said Eto’o. ‘But the most important thing for me is to have consistency in the game and have the best season I can.

‘Adapting to life in England has not been hard but the English football is completely different from the other types. It’s more physical than anything else. I understand it now but I must keep working to improve and score more goals.’



Triple: Eto'o pokes home to score his hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Manchester United

When he first arrived, Mourinho claimed Eto’o had lost direction during two years at Anzhi. ‘For two years he was playing without big motivation,’ said the Chelsea manager. ‘When you play without big motivation, you lose condition, you lose sharpness and you even lose appetite. It was not a surprise for me that he arrived here not in the best conditions.’



But the pair, who won the Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League treble together at Inter Milan, are happy to be in tandem again. ‘He is the same person,’ said Eto’o. ‘He has not changed and he will never change. He is straightforward and honest.’



As for his own appetite, towards the end of a glittering career, the 32-year-old said: ‘I never lost the hunger. When I do not have this hunger any more I will stop. When you arrive in a new club you have to adapt. For some players it is easier than for other players. The more I keep playing the more I will adapt.

‘As the manager says, Chelsea are not obliged to win the league. This is his first year and he is building. It’s not legitimate to ask about the title this season. In the second season, next season, people will be much more impatient. But we are still standing, we are up there and we will keep working to grab as many points as possible before the end of the season.

No motivation: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Eto'o had lost his motivation during his two year spell with Anzhi Makhachkala

Memento: Nathan holds up his shirt, signed by the Chelsea squad

‘When we have big games against the top five we always play really well. This is nice but if you are to win the championship, it is not only about these games against the big teams. You have to play well and win against the small teams, too. These games are important.’



Eto’o is committed to Chelsea until the end of the season. There have been suggestions he may be tempted to end his career in the USA and he revealed this week how his son has been trying to persuade him to return to Real Mallorca, the club where he made his breakthrough in Spain before five years at Barcelona.

‘We all have plans but for now mine are secret,’ said Eto’o. ‘As long as I feel good, I will always enjoy the game and play.’