FCBARCELONA.CAT

12.01.2009 14:22

Eto'o: “Our only limit is winning titles”

Roger Bogunyà

Samuel Eto'o thinks that the key to Barça’s success is training hard every day. When asked about how far the team could go, he said that their only limit was winning titles.

At his press conference this Monday at Camp Nou, Eto'o stressed the importance of training. “If you look at the way we train, you know how we can play,” he commented. “If you train hard every day, you might have an off-day but only one.”

The Reyno de Navarra game

Talking about this Sunday’s game when he scored Barça’s first goal, Eto'o admitted that “we weren’t able to handle the game in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half”, even though the team then equalised and finally got the winner. “I don’t like playing with fire because you might get burnt,” he remarked.

The Cameroon striker also praised the fans and the atmosphere at Reyno de Navarra where it is an “honour” to play. He hopes Osasuna don’t go down to the Second Division.

Big lead

The win in Pamplona means the team is now 12 points ahead of second placed Real Madrid. However, Eto'o prefers not to think about Barça’s pursuers. “I don’t want to focus on them because I’ve been down that way before,” he argued. “And we can’t rest on our laurels either because we’ve thrown away big leads before. We can’t afford to get tired of winning.”

Messi and Xavi, the best in the world

When asked about the winners of the FIFA gala to be held this evening in Zurich, where Messi and Xavi are among the five finalists, Eto'o backed his team-mates. “Messi and Xavi are the best,” he argued. Messi “plays a gear or two above the rest” while Xavi “has been playing this well for years now”.

Contract extension for future

Eto'o didn’t want to talk about an extension to his contract. “The thing is that it’s still far too early to discuss that,” he argued. “We’re not even halfway through the League season and we don’t want to be distracted by stuff. When the time is right we’ll talk about it. Right now I just want to think about training and games.”