Jose Mourinho Believes Samuel Eto'o Was "Impressive" Enough For Fifa Ballon d'Or

Jose Mourinho is having trouble understanding why Samuel Eto'o retired from football without being crowned the winner of the Fifa Ballon d'Or at any point in his career that spanned over 22 years.

Eto'o, who announced his retirement from the sport in September, is a two-time African Cup of Nations champion and three-time Champions League winner at Inter Milan and Barcelona, where he also won the Spanish La Liga three times and Copa del Rey in 2008-09.

The Cameroonian worked under the Portuguese manager at two clubs, Inter Milan and Chelsea, and contributed immensely to helping the Italian side win a treble - Champions League, Italian Serie A and the Italian Cup - in his debut season (2009/10).

Mourinho, at the moment, is out of job following his dismissal from Manchester United in 2018 and was replaced by Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.

Speaking about why the former Barcelona striker never won a Ballon d'Or, Mourinho believed the player being an impressive forward that he was, was meant to have been crowned one judging by his role in three Champions League finals and leading his former team to win league titles.

The Portuguese said in a Cameroonian radio interview "It is difficult to understand how Samuel Eto'o never the Ballon d'Or with the impressive career he had. Samuel played for the best teams in the best leagues in the world."

The 38-year-old scored a total of 293 goals in 587 appearances with 16 league titles in his honour in his name throughout his 22 years football career.

The former Chelsea manager added, "He played three Champions League finals, winning with Barcelona and scoring in both finals. He also won one Champions league at Inter and won many league titles."