The voice tinged with sadness and bitterness, Samuel Eto'o does not hide his emotions when paying homage to Tataw Stephen, during the wake organized as part of his funeral on Friday in Yaoundé (Cameroon). Sadness first, because he knew well the emblematic captain of the golden generation of the Indomitable Lions of 1990. “ It is a pride to have worn the same jersey as him, loose Eto'o. Proud to have worn the Indomitable Lions armband like him ”.

Bitterness then, because with Tataw Stephen, Samuel Eto'o began a perilous project that he will have to pursue alone. Or almost. " It is a pride to have exchanged at length during his lifetime with him, on the very thorny question of the regrouping of all footballers for the development of Cameroonian football ", insists the quadruple African Golden Ball.

The pike to the "elders"

For Samuel Eto'o, there is no doubt that Tataw Stephen is part of the legend. Even if he was not unanimous among his peers. “ He was a humble, efficient and self-effacing craftsman; qualities that many confused with cowardice ”, indignant the ex-star striker of FC Barcelona. Before throwing a spade at some former players, teammates of Tataw Stephen during the epic of the World 90 where Cameroon was the first on the continent to play the quarterinals. “ I worked with a lot of footballers here and elsewhere, ” he said.I have seen very few who agree to step aside for others. I have seen very few who agree to get wet for others, very few who have agreed to remain worthy, even when the winds of life wanted to blow them away. Stephen Tataw, my beloved big brother was all that ”.

Regret

Indeed, the last elections for the presidency of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fécafoot) had given rise in late 2018, enmities between some former players and Samuel Eto'o. They criticized him in particular for supporting the candidate Seidou Mbombo Njoya - who will also be elected at the end of the ballot - rather than the former footballer Joseph Antoine Bell.

In this "conflict" of generations, Tataw Stephen had to side with his younger brother, lynching his former teammates in the process, during a few media outings. Support that Samuel Eto'o is obviously not ready to forget. “ My regret today, ” he said , “is not having completed with him, during his lifetime, the reconstruction of the architecture of solidarity between footballers. I want to tell him and I hope he hears me: I'm not going to stop there. His advice, his commitments will be the seed that will help us during the harvest season ”.

Presented as the " standard bearer of Cameroonian football ", Tataw Stephen was head of department in charge of monitoring national football selections at the time of his death, on July 31 from illness, at the age of 57.