Samuel Eto’o Will Be Reporting Late for AFCON ‘08

Samuel Eto’o will be reporting late for African Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon next week. Barcelona claim to have written permission for Eto’o to stay in Spain and play in the Copa del Rey this weekend, before jetting off to Ghana and joining up with his teammates. It’s a bit like Eto’o has got a note from his mom, except his mom is named Otto Pfister and her job is to coach Cameroon’s national football team.

This could be seen as Barca flexing their muscles a little too heavily, or maybe as Cameroon acquiescing to Cameroon a little too comfortably. Maybe the Indomitable Lions aren’t as Indomitable as we thought? But we could also see this as an example of club and country reaching an acceptable compromise. Eto’o plays for Barca, then he flies out and has about a week in training with his compatriots before Cameroon’s opening game Group C game against Egypt on January 22nd.