Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho, who has worked with some incredible African footballers over the years, has discussed his confusion at a certain African player not winning the Ballon d'Or during his fantastic career.
Click through the mini-gallery above to see some pictures of Mourinho and Samuel Eto'o working together.
In 2009, then Inter Milan boss Mourinho signed Samuel Eto'o in a swap deal that saw Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic join Catalan giants FC Barcelona.
The Cameroonian contributed greatly in their 2009/10 treble-winning campaign in Italy, scoring 16 goals and assisting a further nine strikes in 48 matches that season. They won six trophies overall at the Nerazzurri, and later worked together at Chelsea in the Premier League.
Mourinho was full of praise for the recently-retired forward, insisting the 38-year-old probably deserved more individual recognition for what he achieved in his career.
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"It's difficult to understand how Samuel Eto'o never won the Ballon d'Or with the impressive career he had," the tactician said in an interview with Cameroon Radio.
"Samuel played for the best teams in the best leagues in the world. He scored an incredible amount of goals and was successful in different leagues.
"He played three Champions League finals, winning two with Barcelona and scoring in both finals. He also won one Champions League at Inter and won many league titles.
"He was the best striker in the world for several years and I think he deserved a Ballon d'Or, but these are things out of our control."
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Eto'o won 15 club trophies in his career while representing some giant teams across Europe in Real Madrid, Barca, Inter, Chelsea and Everton, and won the African Cup of Nations twice with Cameroon.
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