Cameroon’s ex-football captain Norbert Owona, who has been homeless for two years, has thanked Samuel Eto’o for promising him a new house.
He told the BBC the ex-Barcelona and Chelsea striker had recently visited him on a trip home.
Eto’o, who now plays for Qatar Sports Club, heard about the 67-year-old’s plight after a documentary showed him sleeping on the streets of Douala.
Owona is now in hospital and waiting to have surgery on a hernia.
BBC Pidgin’s Leocadia Bongben in the capital, Yaounde, said the former Indomitable Lion sounded weak but grateful on the phone.
“Eto’o is a very kind man, very kind,” he told her.
He added that the 37-year-old, a four-time African footballer of the year, had given him about $1,000 (£750) as well as promising to give him a new house.
“I have been homeless with no food to eat,” Owona said.
