Ex -Barcelona and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto ’o has announced his retirement from football at the age of 38 .
After a trophy -laden 22 -year playing career , Eto ’o has decided to hang up his boots.
Widely regarded as one of Africa ’s greatest-ever players , Eto ’o will be most fondly remembered for his time at Barcelona, where he won four La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies .
After five years at Barca , he joined Inter Milan in 2009 . While at Inter Milan , Eto ’o won the treble under the guidance of Jose Mourinho that included a third European Cup win .
Short spells in the Premier League soon followed , with Chelsea and Everton among the 13 professional teams Eto ’ o represented during his memorable playing career .
On the international scene , he was the youngest player at the 1998 World Cup after making Cameroon squad at the age of 17 .
Eto ’ o claimed gold at the 2000 Olympics as well as two Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002 with four African Player of the Year crowns – a record he shares with Ivory Coast ’s Yaya Toure .
Eto ’ o also represented Cameroon at four World Cups , ending up with 56 goals in 118 appearances for his country .
In a short Instagram message on Friday night though , he announced that he would be hanging up his boots.
He wrote : “ The End. Towards a new challenge . Thank you all , big love. ”
Having spent his youth career at Kadji Sports Academy , Eto ’o joined Real Madrid where he was loaned to Leganes , Espanyol , and Mallorca.
From then his career really took off and started to blossom .
Overall , Eto ’o bagged himself 359 goals in 718 club games .
His best return came at Barcelona, where he scored 130 goals in 199 appearances in all competitions .
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