138: Roger Milla, Cameroun, USA ’94 World Cup, UK and Eire Edition

On a family holiday to Norfolk in 1995 I spotted an advert in a newsagent window announcing open trials for the mighty Norwich City. I thought, only one season into my time with Lewisham Youth, it might be a bit too early for me but I pointed it out to my old man just in case. After all this was a man who, as player-manager, had masterminded Chelsea School of Art’s famous victory over the Royal College and had demonstrated his impressive ball control and passing ability on numerous occasions in the local park. Also having a dad as a professional footballer would open doors for me and allow us to establish a sporting dynasty to rival the Gudjohnsens and Lampards. Sadly my Dad laughed at my suggestion and pointed out that, at 42, he was probably a bit too old. Despite coming down from the Premier League that summer the Canaries struggled in Division One and finished in a disappointing sixteenth. My old man could have at least provided competition for Robert Ullathorne in the left back berth.

Perhaps my Dad should have taken inspiration from his fellow quadragenarian Roger Milla who, the previous summer, had become the oldest person to play at and score in a World Cup finals tournament at the age of 42. Even if we take into account that Milla’s goal came as scant consolation during Cameroon’s 6-1 defeat to Russia it’s still an impressive feat. It becomes even more impressive when you take into consideration that Milla had broken his own oldest goalscorer record from four years earlier at Italia ’90. Milla registered four goals in five games to help the Indomitable Lions to the quarter-finals where they were eventually defeated by Gary Lineker’s struggles with gravity in the penalty area. Milla is no longer the oldest player to have turned out for his country at a World Cup finals, having been surpassed by two goalkeepers, but his goalscoring record still stands and looks unlikely to be troubled anytime soon. Not bad for a man who wasn’t even meant to be at either of the aforementioned tournaments in the first place.

Roger Milla made his professional debut in 1968 for Éclair de Douala which sounds more like a technical challenge in the Great British Bake Off than a football team but there we go. After two seasons he moved across the city to the considerably more fearsome sounding Leopard Douala where he scored an incredible 89 goals in 117 games before moving on to Tonerre Yaounde to record a frankly ridiculous 69 goals in 87 appearances. He left his native Cameroon for France in 1977 where, over the course of twelve seasons, he turned out for Monaco, Bastia, Saint-Etienne and Montpellier scoring 126 goals and winning two Coupe De France finals. During this time he had been a mainstay of the Cameroon national team helping them to African Cup of Nations victories in 1984 and 1988. Following that second victory he announced his international retirement and, aged 36, moved to Saint-Pierroise on the island of Reunion to close out an impressive twenty year career which had established him as one of the best footballers on the African continent.

Maybe it was the eight goals in 23 games out in Reunion that clinched it but, ahead of the 1990 World Cup, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya rang Milla and convinced him to come out of international retirement for the tournament. As a man who has held power in the West African nation since 1982 Biya is clearly a man you don’t say no to. The Indomitable Lions announced themselves in the very first game with a 1-0 win over reigning champions Argentina which is best remembered for Benjamin Massing’s perfectly timed tackle on Claudio Caniggia and they went on to top their group which also contained strong sides from Romania and the USSR. Milla scored twice against the Romanians and introduced the world to his now famous corner flag dance celebration. He also netted two goals in their victory over the much fancied Colombian side in the second round, stealing the ball for his second from keeper Rene Higuita around the halfway line before advancing on an unguarded goal. El Loco’s gonna El Loco.

Cameroon’s success at the 1990 World Cup finally convinced FIFA to award an extra place at the World Cup finals to the Confederation of African Football and the Indomitable Lions were joined in the USA in 1994 by Morocco and Nigeria. In between the tournaments Milla had returned to Cameroon and his former club Tonnerre where he fired in a preposterous 89 goals in 116 games. There was no need for a presidential phone call to convince Head Coach Henri Michel to pick Milla for the trip across the Atlantic and, although they were unable to match their previous exploits, they did earn a credible draw against eventual bronze medallists Sweden before losing 3-0 to eventual winners Brazil ahead of their Oleg Salenko inspired shellacking at the hands of Russia. Having scored in his last World Cup appearance MIlla finally hung up his international boots for real following a friendly against South Africa in December 1994.

If Milla had called it quits then I might have had less reason to try and convince my Dad that he should bin off the rest of our holiday to try and impress Martin O’Neill at Norwich back in 1995. However, the great striker still had two more seasons left in him in the Indonesian Premier Division where he banged in 41 goals across 35 games for Pelita Jaya and Putra Samarinda before retiring from professional football at the age of 44. In 2004 Pele named him in his 125 greatest players of all time as part of FIFA’s centenary celebrations and in 2007 the CAF named Milla as the greatest African footballer of the last fifty years. 438 goals in 794 club games alongside 43 in 77 international appearances tend to support these assertions. The fact that 89 of his club goals came after his fortieth birthday is truly incredible and, on the verge of his 69th celebrations, I wouldn’t put it past him still being able to do a job up front if called upon. Maybe he just needs my old man pinging some balls in from the left to get the magic going again.