'I heard of plot not to pass to me' - Eto’o claims Cameroon conspiracy

The striker alleges that others do not want him to score on international level, though his coach branded it "kindergarten talk"

 

Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o believes that some of his Cameroon team-mates actively tried to avoid helping him score in their World Cup play-off against Tunisia.

Ahead of the second leg of their tie on Sunday, with October's first ending 0-0, the 32-year-old claims that he had known in advance of the attempt to undermine and had to do more work himself to drop deep and get the ball.

"It's true and regrettable," Eto'o told the press, "and when you watched me retreating to the midfield to chase the ball, it's because I heard of the plot.

"Football is a collective sport. You are obliged to pass the ball even to your worst enemy, especially when he is in a good position to receive it.

"It is time to put all these issues behind us and concentrate on Sunday's match. We need to unite, chat during the game and do our best to obtain the result that the entire nation is expecting from us and, since our coach is right here, I want him to help stop the act of not passing the ball to a player on the field."

However, boss Volker Finke argued immediately against Eto'o's claims, insisting that he never noticed such a situation during the draw.

"I didn't see anything of such a nature during that match," the German declared. "Each of you can go and watch the video once more. I have watched it over again for about six to seven times. I never noticed any time when a player refused to pass the ball to Eto'o or any other player.

"There could be some issues between the players but nobody refused to kick the ball to Eto'o during that encounter. To me it sounds much like a kindergarten talk."