Eto´o set to light up Hong Kong

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o is the latest big name expected to take part in a four-team pre-Olympic international tournament in Hong Kong, event organisers said Wednesday.

The 27-year-old, one of the most feared goalscorers in world football, has been named in Cameroon’s latest provisional squad list for the ING Cup, which also includes The Netherlands, the US and Ivory Coast.

All four take part in the Beijing Olympics in August, with the Dutch one of the favourites to win gold with a squad likely to boast Real Madrid starlet Royston Drenthe and Liverpool’s Ryan Babel.

But it is the announcement of Eto’o’s potential inclusion — each 18-man Olympic squad can name three senior players, with the rest all aged under 23 — that is likely to cause most excitement.

Eto’o does not know where he will be playing club football next season after the Spanish giants said they were prepared to let him leave.

Hong Kong Football Association Chairman Brian Leung said the mini-tournament in the southern Chinese territory would allow the teams “to acclimatise to the weather and culture of China.”

The final Olympic squads must be submitted to FIFA by July 23. The ING Cup kicks off a week later.