In the corner of Romanian defender Ioan Andone’s eye is a flash of green. Without warning, a 38-year-old is flying past him, opening up his body and finding the top corner.
Then, just as quickly as he had past Andone, Roger Milla is racing towards the corner flag with one instinctive and spontaneous wiggle of the hips. Within an instant, a World Cup hero is born.
For football lovers across the globe, Italia ’90 immediately sparks memories of Paul Gascoigne’s tears, of Roberto Baggio’s slaloming run against Czechoslovakia and of Andreas Brehme’s late penalty to win West Germany the World Cup.
But even the sight of Lothar Matthaus holding aloft the World Cup trophy is rivaled by Cameroon and, in particular, Milla’s heroics as the defining moment of the tournament.
The World Cup is oh so close, & today we’re going to look at World Cup Cult Heroes.Roger Milla is one, tell us yours! pic.twitter.com/sPzREZd5VJ
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 2, 2014
Already with a famous 1-0 victory over the soon-to-be finalists, a Diego Maradona-led Argentina, to their name, Cameroon would continue to inspire the dreams of an entire continent.
Milla was the hero. Four goals from five substitute appearances would forever write his name into World Cup folklore. But just 12 months earlier, a journey to the quarter finals of sport’s showpiece event was the furthest thing from the veteran striker’s mind.
Following a reasonably successful career in France, where Milla played for clubs such as Monaco, St Etienne and Montpellier, the Cameroonian – then 37 – moved to the remote island of Reunion, just off the coast of Madagascar, to play for amateur team Jeunesse St Pierroise.
Having retired from international football three years earlier, Milla was, in his own words, “in need of a rest” and felt the relaxed isolation of Reunion was the perfect place to recharge his batteries.
That was until, just days before teams across the globe would be announcing their World Cup squad, Milla received a call from the then-president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, pleading with the 38-year-old to reconsider his retirement.
What followed would be one of the most remarkable stories in world football.
Milla never started a match at the 1990 World Cup, instead playing five short cameos from the bench. His 76th minute goal against Romania, followed by a second just 10 minutes later, moved Cameroon to two wins from as many matches. All of a sudden, their passage through to the round of 16 was confirmed.
A 4-0 loss to the Soviet Union in their final group game may have otherwise damaged confidence, but for a carefree Cameroonian side, the knockout stages represented more of a chance to express themselves on the international stage, rather than a pressurised ‘winner-takes-all’ environment.
That would soon once again translate into their football in a round of 16 clash with Colombia, led by enigmatic captain Carlos Valderrama.
With the scores locked at 0-0 at the conclusion of the 90 minutes, the energy of Milla off the bench would once again prove the difference.
Stepping around two challenges, the 38-year-old slid the ball into the top corner in the 106th minute. The now trademark wiggle of the hips lit up the Stadio San Paolo once more.
Just three minutes later and Milla picked the pocket of extravagant Colombian ‘keeper Rene Higuita. A calm finish into an empty net would lead to Cameroon becoming the first African side to ever reach the quarter finals of a World Cup.
England was the opposition and, after going into half time trailing 1-0, Cameroon manager Valeri Nepomniachi would immediately turn to Milla. And Milla, in turn, would immediately become the hero once again.
Fouled inside the area by Gascoigne, Milla won the penalty that Emmanuel Kunde finished to level the scores. Just four minutes later and Milla’s tricky feet and expert vision sent Eugene Ekede through to put Cameroon in front.
This time there would be no wiggles, only joyous scenes of celebration by the touchline as Cameroon celebrated a goal they believed would deliver a passage through to the semi finals.
It wasn’t to be. Gary Linekar’s late penalty sent the match to extra time, where another Linekar spot kick broke the hearts of not only Cameroon, but of Africa as a whole.
Cameroon’s feat of reaching the quarter finals has only ever been matched by African sides twice since, by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Not even a talented generation of Cameroonian’s, led by another veteran striker in Samuel Eto’o and fellow pin-up boys of African football, such as Alex Song, Jean Makoun and Stephane Mbia, have come close.
Many have suggested that past laurels have been rested on for too long and that, despite Eto’o’s brilliance, his failure to deliver on the international stage will never see him held in the same regard as Milla.
Furthering Milla’s cult status, he would go on to score in the USA in 1994 as well and, at 42 years and 39 days, become the oldest ever World Cup goal-scorer. But it was his heroics at Italia ’90 that long live in the memory.
Riley Beveridge is a third-year Bachelor of Sport Journalism student at La Trobe University and is the editor of upstart’s sport and World Cup department. You can follow him on Twitter: @RileyBev.
