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Inter’s unlikely 2009-10 Champions League success under Jose Mourinho could inspire Cameroon to a shock World Cup triumph in Qatar, according to the former Nerazzurri and Indomitable Lions striker Samuel Eto’o.
The Cameroon great was part of the Inter side that completed a stunning treble in 2009-10, winning a fifth consecutive Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and their first Champions League or European Cup title in 45 years.
Diego Milito’s brace was enough to down Bayern Munich in the final of UEFA’s elite club competition, with Eto’o assisting the Argentina international for his second goal to wrap up victory.
Inter overcame Chelsea and Barcelona either side of defeating of CSKA Moscow en route to the final, and Eto’o – who is now president of the Cameroonian Football Federation – optimistically believes his country can follow the Nerazzurri’s example at Qatar 2022.
“I don’t see why he can’t win it,” he told reporters in Milan, where the 41-year-old has returned to announce a charity friendly game in San Siro on May 23 that will include the likes of Francesco Totti and Lionel Messi.
“I believe that in order to win the World Cup you don’t need to be monsters or aliens, you need good preparation, a strong mentality and a pinch of madness.
“I won a bit in my career and to do it I gave everything.
“I always take Inter as an example: no one at the beginning of the 2009-10 season thought we could win [the Champions League] and instead Mourinho did something crazy, with a group of men and warriors.
“I would like something like that for Cameroon too.”
Cameroon’s best performance at a World Cup saw them famously reach the 1990 quarter-finals, but they did not make it out of the group in any of their other six participations, failing to even register a point at either South Africa 2010 or Brazil 2014.
Having missed out on Russia 2018, Cameroon will have to overcome the world’s number-one ranked side Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland in Group G later this year.
