Puma Football: You had a difficult start of the tournament, do you think Cameroon can go on to win the final?

Samuel Eto'o : You know, Cameroon have a habit of not starting well, but … I don’t know … they finish well. We are like diesel engines: we start very slowly, hey, very slowly, but when we get going, we can go far. I don’t have any doubt about my group. Hey, I know that we will go far in this competition. Now, football is not an exact science, if you play as well as you can and you have a bit more luck than yesterday, I think that should be that.

PF:There's a lot of talk about the Ivory Coast being your main rivals for the trophy. How would you compare your style with Didier Drogba?

SE: Oh, I don’t compare my style with Didier. He’s another great African player, who does good things for Africa. On the contrary, we get on well and both of us help to define Africa’s image. I believe that it is a shame that people try and compare us with each other, but, it’s not the Africans doing it, because we, the Africans, we have to protect those who present the image… or those who promote Africa’s image in Europe, like Didier, Michael and lots of others such as myself.

PF: You've played in Spain, now Italy, what does it mean to come back to Africa and hear the fans cheer for you?

SE: It is an honour for me to play all the time in African stadia. I believe that my dearest … dearest dream is always to return. Every time I go away, I tell myself “Samuel, when will you come back?” And every time I come back, I really enjoy it. Yesterday, despite the fact we lost, you can see that, here, where I live in Africa, people are proud to see me again. I can use the occasion to tell the spectators that I have to thank them for their welcome yesterday in the stadium. And, yesterday, I couldn’t score, I tried to do my best but that depends on how you see it; I hope we will be luckier on Sunday. I hope I’ll score and I hope that I’ll be able to put my team-mates in better positions so that they can score.

PF: How does the captaincy affect the way you play the game?

SE: For a few years now, I’ve been captain of this team. Now, the coach just wants me to wear the armband during the match, but I used to be captain and I see the match in the same way: I am always positive and I try to do my best for my team-mates so that we are all the best, because life is like that, football, is an education. And we have the opportunity to pass things on to the younger ones so that they can do the same tomorrow.

PF: You're wearing the Africa Unity kit. How important is a United Africa?

SE : By wearing this shirt, we are all united, we are all African, before we are from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana etc. And I hope that this spirit will continue into the World Cup, because in our World Cup an African country needs to progress as far as possible, to be able to win the cup or Africa. I would like it to be Cameroon, it could be another African country, because I am African before I am Cameroonian.

PF: You've been drawn in the same World Cup group as the Netherlands, do you think they're your main rivals to qualify from the qualifying group?

SE: No, all those who have qualified demand the same respect and I think all the matches will be… we will go into them in the same way. We are honest, we know that we can take three points from Japan, hmm… we will give ourselves the same opportunity against Holland and will look at the matches in the same way.

PF: How have you found playing in Italy? It's famous for its great defensive players, are you finding it more difficult than Spain?

SE : Oh, in Spain, there were a lot of great defenders, really a lot. In Italy, I wondered how it would work, with the football, because in Italy, the defences rules, but up to now, and given the matches I have been able to play with my team, hmm well, it’s… it’s more positive than not.

PF: And to have been drawn against Chelsea, in the Champions League, would you say that they are the favourites to win that?

SE: Oh, no. It’s the quarter finals; it’s a shame, because I would like to have played Chelsea a little later, but, yes, we are playing a very, very good team, a great team. They will be thinking the same thing, we have to wait, we still have a lot of time. The first match is next month, I think. We have to be ready for it.

PF: How would you describe your relationship with José Mourinho?

SE: Yesterday I saw, before the start of the match he was encouraging me and I sent him a text to tell him that I knew that he watches matches, even in the Eighth Division. We have a very, very good relationship and I really need that after all the problems I have had, as regards to my departure from Barcelona. I’ve found someone: a big brother, a coach and a friend… We talk, we exchange views and there you are.

PF: How important is his inside knowledge about Chelsea going to be?

SE: I can’t say!

PF: Last question: you've played in Spain, you've played in Italy, have you considered coming to play in the Premiere League?

SE: I had the opportunity to sign for an English club in the summer, but I preferred to go to Italy and especially to Inter , because they had the coach I wanted and a President who really wanted me, although the English club, the chairman wanted me and the coach, I never dreamed of it and what’s more, I really like it at Inter but the future is sometimes full of surprises.