Javier Clemente, a coach born in Barakaldo, is an old-school football man who has devoted his entire life to the sport. He began his playing career at his hometown club before quickly joining Athletic Bilbao, progressing through the youth ranks to the senior team and making his debut in 1968, retiring in 1975.

After hanging up his boots, Clemente embarked on a coaching career that he continued until 2022, when he was the Libya national team coach at the age of 72. Four years later, he has neither confirmed nor denied his retirement, leaving open the possibility of a return if a club decides to trust him.

As for clubs, he has managed Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, Real Sociedad, Marseille, Tenerife, Murcia, and Valladolid—taking him across Spain. At international level, he has coached Spain, Serbia, Cameroon, and Libya, but it was during his first spell in Africa that he realized football understanding differs across the globe.

The Basque tactician described that experience as "the hardest time of my life," a revelation he made during an interview with Jot Down Sport following the release of the documentary "Clemente's Spain." He discovered that the 2010 World Cup qualifiers had completely disrupted Cameroon's squad, and captain Samuel Eto'o was at the peak of his career, having just won the treble with Barcelona and nearly repeating that feat with Inter Milan.

"I encountered problems from day one. They had just returned from South Africa, and it was complete chaos. Eto'o told me that according to tradition, the captain always has two or three people around him," the coach recalled. He also claimed that several Cameroon players had been banned from the national team at Eto'o's orders—a fact confirmed directly to him by Michel Zoah, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education.

Clemente did not back down and confronted the former Barcelona striker directly: "Eto'o, you're 32 years old and the best player in Africa. Why are you getting involved in all this nonsense?" He recalled telling Eto'o this, but the player clearly had no intention of stepping back. Eventually, Clemente said: "Arguments erupted, some players rebelled, and others accused the rebels of not working hard. The atmosphere was very dangerous; everyone was going crazy." However, as time passed, the qualifying matches finally began.

"We went to Mauritius to play, and it felt like we were playing against idiots. The fans were rowdy, the stadium was a mess, but we won 3-0. Next was Congo, and they made us play in the north because in Yaoundé the fans had been very unhappy with them. We were really unlucky. The pitch was full of holes, there were shanties everywhere, and the moment we arrived, a cholera outbreak began. We all had to be vaccinated on Thursday, and the match was on Friday," Clemente recalled, referring to the outbreak in the opposing country at that time.

Although results were progressing, Eto'o suffered an injury, forcing Clemente to set aside the arguments and directly address the captain issue: "We drew 1-1, and Samuel got injured. He was playing with a slight strain, but Black players are very strong physically; they won't complain. In that situation, I told Samuel: either bring back those five other players, or we won't qualify for the World Cup," Clemente emphasized.

Eventually, he brought back two of the banned players, but the team lost to Senegal. Although they later beat Congo and Mauritius, in a rematch against the "Teranga Lions," Eto'o returned but missed a crucial penalty that could have secured qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Facing this crisis, the Minister intervened to solve the problem, playing the role of a "savior from above": "The Minister then forced me to bring in Ekotto, a Tottenham player whom I had previously removed from training camp for being slippery. I asked for an explanation, and they told me: 'I am Cameroon's Minister, I manage the army and police, so why can't I bring a player into the national team?'" he recalled. After all this, the Cameroon Football Federation decided to end the Spanish coach's tenure, firing him in 2011 after failing to get past the qualifying round of the continental tournament.

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