Samuel Eto’o : ” I was sitting at home in Douala when suddenly! My phone rang. The number? Unknown, but something in my heart said, “Answer, Samuel.” when I answered I heard “Samu? Do you still have the same number from 2009?” (He laughs quietly.).
So I said to him, “Lionel?! Even if I changed my number 100 times, I would have made you the first to know! But why are you calling in the middle of the night? Do you want to finally admit that I’m the best at pikey-pikey among us.
Then he started laughing and said, “No, this time it’s bigger I’ve seen what you’re doing in Africa, and I’ve seen the eyes of children in some remote villages when you visit them. I want to be part of this, but in my own way.”
My heart stopped for a moment. Messi talking about Africa with such passion?! Then I heard him say, “I want to build schools and hospitals, but not in my name but in the name of the football that brought us together.” And you know the way Samuel”.
The following week, Messi secretly flew to Yaoundé. No press conferences, no cameras. Just him and me visiting a remote village. There, we met a little girl named Ama. She was holding her worn-out ball and saying to Messi, “You’re magical, but my ball doesn’t fly like yours!” At that moment, I saw Messi’s tears. He took out his phone and said to me, “Here. We’re going to build a playground for every child in this village, and we’re going to teach them that true magic is giving without expecting anything in return.”
Messi didn’t stop there! He launched a secret program called “10.” The program collects donations from football legends to save forgotten villages in Africa. The most beautiful thing? His only condition was: “No media, no noise, only action.” That day, I understood why Messi was “great.” Not because he scores goals, but because he knows how to strike hope into the hearts of those who have no voice.
Now, whenever someone asks me, “What’s the difference between Messi and all other players?” I say, “Some live to love football, and Messi lives to make football love people.”
Africa doesn’t need heroes seen on screens, but heroes who come down to earth and hold children’s hands. And Messi came down.”
Source : UNICEF PODCAST
