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What's the story?
Former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Samuel Eto’o should have won the Ballon d'Or during the prime years of his career.
In case you didn't know...
Eto'o, who started his youth career with Real Madrid, initially worked under Mourinho at Inter Milan, where they completed a treble by lifting the Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the Champions League in the 2009-2010 season. The pair reunited at Chelsea three years later for a brief stint before the Cameroonian was released by the club.
Overall, the 38-year-old had played for 13 clubs which took him to Spain, Italy, England, Turkey, Russia, and Qatar before calling time on his glittering 22-year playing career earlier this month.
The heart of the matter
In an interview with Cameroon Radio, Mourinho has revealed he is baffled that Eto'o never won the Ballon d'Or in his career and heaped praise on the former Inter star, claiming he was the best striker in the world for several years.
As per the BBC, the Portuguese tactician said,
"It's difficult to understand how Samuel Eto'o never won the Ballon d'Or with the impressive career he had. 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."
What's next?
Mourinho himself is yet to make his return to management despite having been linked to varied European powerhouses and insists on waiting for the right club which share his mentality.
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