03/01/2004 00:00
TW
0
By Humphrey Carter REAL Mallorca's star striker Samuel Eto'o said yesterday that it is up to Real Mallorca and the Cameroon Football Federation to decide whether he will play in Spain or the Ivory Coast on Sunday. “I'll play football where ever my bosses say,” the player, who surprisingly returned to Palma on New Year's Eve said yesterday. Eto'o said that he returned from the Christmas break three days late because the Cameroon Federation wanted him to play in this weekend's pre-Olympic tournament but Mallorca, who wanted their top scorer to play against Espanyol this Sunday, put the matter in the hands of FIFA and the Spanish Federation. “I've got my family in Cameroon but my contract is here,” Eto'o said. “I can't choose, it's for my bosses to resolve this problem and I'll do what ever they tell me. “Before I left (for Christmas in Cameroon) I told the coach what could happen, the club should have therefore sorted this out, that's what they get paid for,” he added.


The striker was particularly vague about his future at the club “you'll have to ask my representative if you want to know if I'll be leaving for another club over the next few days,” he said.

Coach Luis Aragones knows how important Sunday's game is, but he still doesn't know if Eto'o will be available while Alejandro Campano is injured. Aragones admitted that he is worried about “Eto'ogate.” “I know he wants to play, we want him to play and hopefully we can sort this out in time,” the coach said yesterday.