So there’s a big US soccer event in Blaine, Minnesota, sponsored by Puma and a host of other companies. To inaugurate this year’s event, Puma decides to bring the Son of God himself, Samuel Eto’o, as their special guest. Word starts spreading in the Cameroonian community that “the chosen one” will be in town on Monday July 14. No one took the information seriously and the one Cameroonian who is heavily involved in Minnesota soccer events, told inquirers that he didn’t know anything about Eto’o coming to town. It was the tireless and endless investigation by our own Celestain Fonge and William Aminkeng, who went ahead and contacted the event organizers to officially confirm that Sammy would definitely be in town.
So we went out in numbers to support and welcome the brother. The stadium is packed to the max and in one little section there’s a big fat Cameroonian flag swaying in the wind, and a couple dozen Cameroonians cheering around it. Among those present were William Aminkeng, Blaise Kum “Sans Visa”, Masango Kelly, Ebai Kima, Franklin Awasom, Ade Sullivan, Immaculate Awasom, Hilary Atio, Oneal Batcha “Costa”, Paul Enow, Celestain Fonge and of course, me!
After the American anthem is sung, the moment we’ve been waiting for arrives. The crowd sits down and waits for the man of the hour, Samuel Eto’o, to inaugurate the event. We strain our necks to confirm that the little speck that appeared at the other end of the stadium is indeed Samuel Eto’o. The speck grew and grew and grew and behold it IS Samuel Eto’o. He scans the 10,000+ crowd and spots our flag in the distance. Words can’t explain what he does next. Eto’o turns towards us and raises one arm in the air! Wow!! The crowd goes wild! Most of the older generation didn’t understand what the fuss was about, but then their little teenage kids who are obviously soccer fans, had all waved at us and chanted « Eto’o!” “Eto’o!” when they had matched past our delegation and saw our jerseys and flag.
Samuel makes his speech and disappears from the stadium. We immediately follow the direction he took and discover him at the balcony of some office building. He leans over from the balcony and waves down at the crowd. One young Cameroonian kid who had arrived late, saw Samuel and fell down on his knees and wept! By this time the dumb security people who didn’t even know they were in the presence greatness, started hurrying to get him out of there. We run around the building to cut them off at the stairs! What is the problem with these people anyway? Ignorance should really be a punishable crime! They come down the stairs and could not believe what they saw! By this time our numbers had tripled, now there were not only Cameroonians but also Somalians, Costa Ricans, Brazilians, Mexicans and Americans waiting for Samuel Eto’o. He halts to talk to the crowd but his makeshift, burger eating security personnel surround him and tried to bundle him into a waiting car. Before they could force him in, Eto’o looks over at us and yells « Grand Hotel, Minneapolis » before being forced into the car!
Grateful for the tip, we go to our cars and head to the Grand Hotel in downtown Minneapolis! We get to the hotel just when he’s pulling up. He steps out of the car, shakes hands with the few people around him and asks the hotel security very politely, if we could all come sit with him at the Reception area. Wow! What class!
At the reception area, he shows everyone where to sit and begged some hotel folks to bring more chairs for those standing. Keeping in mind that this might be an all-English speaking crowd, he laughed and led the discussion himself. He talked about the weather, about winter in Minnesota, about his experience in a New York winter (video), he talked about Barcelona and Guardiola’s open declaration against himself, Deco and Ronnie. He talked about his next move, why he would prefer one club over the others. He talked about his love and respect for Seedorf and how he’s the main factor in his admiration and consideration for a move to Milan, he talked about the ILS, how the team is undergoing reconstruction, he talked about his house in Miami, he talked about always being in the US because his kids love going to Disney Land in Florida, he talked about leaving Minnesota the next day and heading straight to Uzbekistan. He gave opportunities for photos and questions and when some of us tried to do some of the translations he told us not to bother, he said the people could speak in English, he would understand. To our greatest surprise, he started translating for us the translators!
It was obvious he was tired and sleepy but he didn’t want to leave! He just stood there looking at us as we looked at him. The little kid who had wept in the afternoon, showed up again and as soon as he saw Samuel right in front of him, he went down on his knees. It was a touching scene. After shaking Samuel’s hand, the kid said he had just witnessed the second coming of Jesus Christ!
Eto’o bade us farewell as we wished him good luck and God’s blessings…we left the hotel at midnight after spending over two hours with Samuel Eto’o! Wow! What a day!!!
Follow this link to see all the pictures : http://s331.photobucket.com/albums/l469/strongpikin/
Cyril Ndoko « Strongpikin », Camfoot Forums, Minneapolis.
