Roger Milla is a legendary Cameroonian former professional footballer who is globally celebrated as the oldest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history. Born Albert Roger Miller on May 20, 1952, Milla became an international icon during the 1990 World Cup at the age of 38, captivating fans with his brilliant substitute performances and his trademark hips-swiveling dance celebration at the corner flag.
In 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[7] In 2007, the Confederation of African Football named Milla the best African player of the previous 50 years.[9] At the time of his retirement, he was regarded as the all-time top-scorer from African region in FIFA World Cup finals with five goals and his record was eventually surpassed by Ghana's Asamoah Gyan
Key Historical Milestones World Cup Records:
He remains the oldest outfield player to score in a World Cup, netting a goal against Russia in the 1994 World Cup at 42 years and 39 days old.
The 1990 Renaissance: He had already retired from international football when Cameroon's president personally requested his return for the 1990 World Cup. He scored four goals, driving Cameroon to become the first African nation to reach a World Cup quarter-final.
Continental Accolades: He was twice named African Footballer of the Year (1976 and 1990) and was honored by CAF as the best African player of the previous 50 years in 2007.
Club Career: Milla played for prominent Cameroonian clubs like Tonnerre Yaoundé before transitioning to a successful French career with teams including Monaco, Bastia, and Montpellier.
Milla was capped 77 times for the national team, scoring 43 goals. Milla made his first appearance for Cameroon in 1973 versus Zaire in a World Cup qualifier.
He made his World Cup debut in also what is considered to be the maiden World Cup appearance for Cameroon when they qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup after winning both their final round matches against Morocco at the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification for the African Zone. Milla played an instrumental role in helping Cameroon to qualify for the 1982 World Cup by top scoring in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification for the African Zone competition. He endured mixed emotions at 1982 FIFA World Cup having a goal disallowed against Peru in their first match. Cameroon went out with three draws from their three first-round games. Two years later, he was part of the squad competing at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Milla was also an integral member of the Cameroonian squad which won the 1984 African Cup of Nations where Cameroon defeated Nigeria 3-1 in the final to secure Cameroon's first ever continental title. He was a key member of the Cameroonian side which emerged as runners-up to Egypt in the final of the 1986 African Cup of Nations and he received the best player award in the tournament for being the top goal scorer with 4. He was also named in 1986 African Cup of Nations team of the tournament. He was also the joint top goalscorer in the 1988 African Cup of Nations with 2 goals alongside Algeria's Lakhdar Belloumi, Abdoulaye Traoré of Ivory Coast and Gamal Abdelhamid of Egypt. He once again played a vital role in Cameroon's trumph at the 1988 African Cup of Nations and for his noteworthy performances throughout the tournament, he was adjudged as the player of the tournament and was also included in the 1988 African Cup of Nations team of the tournament.
In 1988, at the age of 36, Milla celebrated his early retirement from international football with a jubilee in Cameroon. However, in 1990, he received a phone call from the President of Cameroon Paul Biya, who pleaded with him to come out of international retirement and rejoin the national team. He agreed, and went to Italy with the Indomitable Lions for the 1990 World Cup, where he would cause a sensation. It was revealed that Paul Biya wanted Milla to play in the World Cup after watching Milla play in an exhibition charity match which was played at Douala where Milla went on to score two goals. Following the insistence of the Cameroonian President, Milla decided to make a comeback to international football by making an official announcement in May 1990.
It is also reported that most of the Cameroonian teammates and the national head coach Valery Nepomnyashchy who is a Russian did not want Milla to be part of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Biya issued a decree summoning him to return to the national side and Biya officially signed the decree requesting and compelling the coach to pick him for the World Cup squad. It was also reported that the renowned sportswriters in Cameroon along with fans began a campaign to recall Milla back to the national team following Cameroon's embarrassing display during the 1990 African Cup of Nations in Algeria where Cameroon crashed out from the group stage with defeats to The Gambia and Senegal.
1990 World Cup
Milla scored all his four goals in the tournament as a substitute as he started every game of the tournament on the bench. He started in the second half in four out of five World Cup matches and appeared in the first half once. His two crucial goals came in the second half of the match against Romania within just two minutes in extra time where he once again appeared as a substitute and following his heroics, he was hailed as a hero in Cameroon.
It was the coach Valery Nepomnyashchy who decided to bring in Milla a bit earlier in the game against Romania knowing full well that a victory would secure Cameroon's spot in the knockout stages and the coach later acknowledged the importance of Milla after his important late cameo in Cameroon's remarkable upset victory over defending world champions Argentina. He was the oldest outfield player to feature in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and was the second oldest player during the tournament after England's Peter Shilton.
The 38-year-old Milla emerged as one of the tournament's major stars. He scored four goals in Italy, celebrating each one with a dance around the corner flag that has become a popular goal celebration ever since. Two of his goals came against Romania in Cameroon's second game, and two more came in extra time against Colombia in the last 16 to carry Cameroon to the quarter-finals, the furthest an African team had ever advanced at the World Cup (Senegal and Ghana matched this feat in 2002 and 2010 respectively, whilst Morocco surpassed it by reaching the semi-finals in 2022). In the quarter-final match against England, Milla confirmed his super-sub legend by entering in the second half with Cameroon trailing 1–0 and drawing a penalty and then setting up a goal for Ekeke to give Cameroon a 2–1 lead, before England later scored two penalties, to win 3–2 after extra time. Due to his performances in Italy, he was once again named African Footballer of the Year.[citation needed]
His second goal celebration against Colombia became iconic across the world, and was used by Coca-Cola as seen in ads like the 2010 World Cup Coca-Cola advertisement.
1994 World Cup
Milla returned to the 1994 FIFA World Cup at the age of 42, being the oldest player ever to appear in a World Cup until the 2014 tournament when Colombia's Faryd Mondragón entered in a group stage match versus Japan when 43 years and 3 days old. Mondragon's record in turn was beaten by Essam El Hadary in 2018. Cameroon were knocked out in the group stages; however, Milla scored a goal against Russia, setting a record as the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup tournament, breaking the record he had set in 1990. His final international appearance came in a friendly against South Africa in December 1994
