LUSAKA – Samuel Eto’o, the ambassador of the Castle Africa 5-a-side tournament taking place here in Lusaka this weekend, says he is backing Liverpool to win Saturday night’s Uefa Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kiev.
The former Barcelona and Chelsea striker didn’t give any clever tactical reasons why he was putting his money on the Reds, other than “showing support for my African brothers”.
Liverpool have Senegal’s Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah of Egypt, who was crowned as the Footballer of the Year in the English Premier League for the season that just ended.
Eto’o, 37, is from Cameroon.
“It’s very simple to say who I would like to win,” he said when asked for his pick ahead of the game tonight in Ukraine (8.45pm SA time kickoff).
GOOD LUCK TEAM SA 🇿🇦
(Milano FC) #CastleAfrica5s pic.twitter.com/FNXaAJ1cQj
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) May 25, 2018
“Liverpool, because I am showing support for my African brothers – Mané and Salah. They are great players.”
Eto’o himself has won the Champions League twice while a Barcelona player in 2006 and 2009.
He now plays for Konyaspor in Turkey as he nears retirement.
🥅 6 games, 6 teams!
📍 Lusaka, Zambia 🇿🇲
🏟 Futsal Complex
🏆 To win a spot at the World Cup
Join me in my #Castle5s journey!
Wish me luck... pic.twitter.com/nDSyGaiYLb
— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) May 24, 2018
A legend for his home country with over 100 international caps and two Africa Cup of Nations titles, Eto’o will host the Castle 5s hopefuls for a Champions League viewing here, and will eventually travel with the tournament winners to Russia for this year’s World Cup next month as a prize for going all the way in the competition.
* Mazola Molefe is in Lusaka as a guest of Castle, and is also participating in the 5-a-side tournament with an Invitational team.
@superjourno