"Eto'o is the Best Pure Striker in the World" Tommy Smyth
(Bloomberg) -- Barcelona beat 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League final to win European soccer's top club competition for a second time and cap a season in which it retained the Spanish league title.
Samuel Eto'o tied the match for Barcelona, which last lifted the cup in 1992, in the 76th minute and four minutes later substitute Julian Belletti smashed the ball past replacement goalkeeper Manuel Almunia into the net.
Barcelona becomes the first Spanish team to win the Champions League since archrival Real Madrid claimed a record ninth crown in 2002. Spain has won both European titles this season, with Sevilla defeating England's Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup final.
Arsenal, which had goalkeeper Jens Lehmann ejected after 18 minutes for bringing down Eto'o, led at halftime on a Sol Campbell header in the 37th minute at Stade de France in Paris. 
Arsene Wenger's team, which had been trying to emulate Premiership rival Liverpool's success in last season's final, hadn't allowed a goal in a record 10 straight Champions League games before today.
Tags: UEFA Champions League Barcelona Arsenal Paris Eto/'o Cameroon
May. 18, 2006
Barcelona striker Eto'o to arrive in Israel
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
International soccer star Samuel Eto'o is to arrive in Israel next week on a goodwill mission that will include an exhibition match with Jewish and Arab players.
Eto'o will be the guest of the Peres Center for Peace, founded by Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres in 1996 to encourage economic and grassroots cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. It will be his first visit to Israel.
During the three-day visit, Eto'o will meet with Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, and with Israeli and Palestinian children. He also plans to tour Jerusalem holy sites.
On Wednesday, Eto'o led Barcelona to its first European soccer championship in 14 years, defeating Britain's Arsenal 2-1.
In the 76th minute, he scored the game-tying goal. Five minutes later, Barcelona scored the go-ahead goal.
Eto'o and Peres initiated the visit when they met last year in Barcelona at the "Peace Match," an international game sponsored by the Peres Center.
Posted by: Sanchez | May 18, 2006 at 08:56 AM
Eto'o follows Liverpool's example
by Andrew Haslam from Paris
Man of the match Samuel Eto'o said FC Barcelona drew inspiration from Liverpool FC's fightback in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final to battle back from a goal down and defeat Arsenal FC at the Stade de France.
Eto'o equaliser
The English side lost goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to an early red card for a foul on the Cameroonian striker, but nevertheless took the lead eight minutes before half-time when Sol Campbell rose to head in Thierry Henry's free-kick. Despite not being at their fluent best against opponents who stretched their run without conceding a goal in the competition to 994 minutes, Barça finally found a breakthrough with 14 minutes to go as Henrik Larsson's clever flick gave Eto'o the chance to poke past Lehmann's replacement Manuel Almunia and finally bring the record to an end.
'Never over'
The goal inspired the Spanish champions, who took the trophy to Catalonia for the second time with a decisive strike nine minutes from time, Juliano Belletti turning in Larsson's perfectly-weighted pass from an acute angle. "We never thought it was a lost cause," said Eto'o, who was voted man of the match by UEFA's technical observers. "We saw Liverpool recover last year from three goals down and we knew it was never over, we always thought we could win. You can have doubt in a final but at half-time we remembered the spirit of Liverpool and we knew we had to keep going and keep trying and trying."
Team spirit
Eto'o's coach Frank Rijkaard – only the fifth man to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup as player and coach after his successes with AC Milan and AFC Ajax, following in the footsteps of Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff and Carlo Ancelotti – is a keen advocate of the team ethic, and his No9 echoes that view. "It was Barcelona's evening, not mine, not Belletti's, not Ronaldinho's – it's a great night for the team rather than any one player," he said. "We have a great team here and anyone can score if they get a great pass from a colleague, as myself and Belletti did. Arsenal played in their own way and managed to score against us with ten players, but we kept going and thank heavens we got back into it and scored those goals."
Perspective required
A deeply religious and proud family man whose son was by his side throughout the man-of-the-match press conference, the 25-year-old forward struggled to express just what the result meant to him. "It's incredible, there are not enough words to explain this experience. It means that, in a few years, I'll be able to say to my son, 'Listen, we won the UEFA Champions League trophy at the Stade de France and I scored the equaliser'. I think what we have achieved will only become evident when we stop playing." Barça fans will be hoping there are a few more nights like the one they have just lived before that day comes.
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Posted by: EtoFan | May 18, 2006 at 10:02 AM