Barcelona and Cameroon star, Samuel Eto'o
To say that Samuel Eto'o is merely one of the world's finest players would be doing the Barcelona striker an injustice, for the lethal front man does not limit his extraordinary talents to the field of play.
The Cameroon international is also renowned for his humanity off the park and fervent defence of those causes he holds dear, particularly the fight against racism.
You are well known for your strong stance against racism in the game. Have you taken up this cause as a personal challenge?
It is an ongoing struggle, and we must keep fighting it (racism) every single day. Like I always say, they can attack us but they will never defeat us. This issue means a great deal to me and we must be prepared to use whatever means necessary. Racism is vile and we must strive to see it disappear from football.
At the age of just 25 you are already a role model throughout Africa. Is that something you are aware of?
Yes, there's no doubt about it, and I want to keep doing things right so that even more people will take notice of what I'm doing in Europe. Having millions of people watch you play and be influenced by what you do is a huge responsibility. I consider it to be a great honour.
You must be very pleased that it is now Africa's turn to host the FIFA World Cup?
Of course I am. South Africa 2010 will give our continent an unbeatable opportunity to prove that we can rise to the biggest challenges and achieve wonderful things. I can hardly wait.
Do you expect Cameroon to be involved?
Of course! After the difficult times that we went through on the qualifying trail for Germany, it's time that we got back on the World Cup stage. Besides which, I'd love the Trophy to stay in Africa. Clearly it would be amazing if we ourselves could win it, but our continent has other great teams like, Ghana and Nigeria, who can feasibly set their sights on winning the tournament.
This interview first appeared on fifa.com
