Barça lifted their second Champions League in Paris. It was in 2006during the project led by the Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, when Barça revived old laurels. Barça arrived at the Stade de France as league champions, but maintained the intensity to avoid failing as in Athens (1993-1994). FC Barcelona played up to ten participations without success to reach glory again. It was a Champions in which Barça did not have many complications and Samuel Et’oo, a Barça legend and striker in that final, changed the game thanks to a ‘chat’ at half-time.
Eto’o revived a dejected dressing room
This was confessed during an interview in ‘The Bridge‘, a YouTube channel in which he was also present Aurelien Tchouaménihost of the show. Eto’o was the hero of the final. He saved an early goal for the English with a great goal and then Belletti scored the winning goal under a persistent rain. It was a historic moment, but the game changed course after a speech he made at half-time, in which Samuel Eto’o took control and raised his voice.
“In 2006, at half-time in the Champions League final at the Stade de France, we were 1-0 down and Arsenal were 10 down. Do you know why we were losing? Because Ronaldinho, the best player, wanted to play alone. I came into the dressing room and everyone had their heads down. Frank (Rijkaard) was on the other side, lost. I said to them: what are you doing? Get up, I’m going to score, I’m still here, what are you afraid of?“, recalled Eto’o, who later revealed that Ronaldinho apologized to the rest of the team for wanting to wage war on his own.
Ronaldinho’s forgiveness
That day, Barça came out on top and history smiled on them, but in the 45th minute, in the Barça dressing room, things were not looking so good. The Cameroonian said that he asked his teammates for a reaction to turn the score around and revealed that Ronaldinho apologized in the dressing room for being behind on the scoreboard.
“I said to him: Ronnie, either you play with us or you’re going to sit on the bench. And that’s where you see the great player. He gathered us all together and apologized.”said Eto’o, who thanked Ronaldinho for his gesture.
A striker full of history… and anecdotes
The Cameroonian defended the FC Barcelona shirt in 199 games, scoring 130 goals and providing 41 assists between the 2004-05 and 2008-09 seasons. He won eight titles, including three leagues and two Champions Leagues. He closed his time at Barcelona with Pep Guardiola’s first project, crowned with the treble in 2009 (League, Cup and Champions League).
Samuel Eto’o was always a player who left no one indifferent. His performances on the pitch were excellent, but off the pitch he was also in the news for his demands and his indomitable character. On The Bridge he also said that one day he scored a hat-trick in 45 minutes to go out partying. “Once, while I was at Inter, I had to come to Paris for a party with friends,” the former Barça striker began. “I had to go and tell Leonardo, who was my coach: ‘Listen, Leo, Milan airport… in the 45th minute I will have scored 3 goals’. By half-time I had already scored and he substituted me.”Eto’o concluded with a laugh.
The curious thing about this story, which is reminiscent of Romario’s with Cruyff and the Rio de Janeiro carnival (he scored two goals before the 20th minute and took a plane so as not to miss it), is that During his time at Inter, Eto’o only scored a hat-trick on one occasion.
