Samuel Eto'o, Internazionale

   2011 earnings: €13 million

Samuel Eto'o, born in 1981, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian club Internazionale and is the current captain of the Cameroon national team. When he was a minor, Eto'o joined Real Madrid in 1997, and then transferred from Barcelona to Internazionale in July 2009. He is the most decorated African player of all time, having won the African Player of the Year for four times in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. And as a member of the national team, he was a part of the squad that won the 2000 Olympic tournament, and has participated in three World Cups and six African Nations Cups.