10 Best Strikers Of The 21st Century

Total career goals: 427

One of the most atypical and fun-to-watch strikers to have haunted defenders these past 20 years, Samuel Eto’o, who just recently hung the boots, may have been the greatest Number 9 of the 2000s decade.

You’d struggle to find a more prestigious list of accomplishments. He won three Champions Leagues, and unlike Benzema, played in a big role in every one of those triumphs, scoring in two different finals with Barcelona and defending like a lifelong wing-back for Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the 2010’s final. He’s the only player in history to have won a treble with two different clubs. On top of that, his first treble in 2009 with Barcelona was actually their history-making sextuple, and he was the one who led their attack through all those competitions.

Playing amongst the finest, Eto’o never looked out of place. The kid from Nkon, who first learned his craft playing in the streets of Mvog-Ada - one of Yaoundé’s poorest districts - would grow up to have the vision of a Xavi and the unpredictability of a Ronaldinho. His goal against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu in the 2006 Clásico illustrates it best. From a position where almost any striker would have tried to play the ball back or try to backheel it back to Messi, he turned himself up towards goal at light speed and scored with a powerful, rarely seen toe punt finish. Some RKOs aren’t that outta nowhere.

In an interview with AFP, Eto’o called himself the greatest African player in history, labeling it a fact. In his own words: “I have a lot of respect for all those elders [African football legends like George Weah and Roger Milla], but our careers are there and speak for ourselves.”

In the case of Eto’o, his career says one Olympic gold medal, two CANs, four African Footballer of the Year awards (five if he hadn’t been robbed of it in 2009), Cameroon’s and CAN’s all-time top scorer (56 and 18). He’s not arrogant: he’s right.