Roger Milla

How Italia 90 changed the way the world saw African football

Roger Milla

It was arguably the most powerful emblem of the tournament that changed the way the world saw African football -- a Cameroon striker's joyous dance at a corner flag.
    Nobody had really expected all that much of Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
    Not many casual observers knew that much about 38-year-old Roger Milla -- the football veteran who, after each of his four tournament goals, shimmied his way into the spotlight.
    Exactly a quarter of a century ago today Milla was the man on the spot in his side's last-16 clash with Colombia, scoring twice as a second-half substitute to seal a 2-1 win and continue the Indomitable Lions' heroics.
    After each strike he headed straight for the corner flag, gyrating in front of it in a sort of Makossa dance before being engulfed by euphoric colleagues.
    He found that his celebration, almost more than his goals, had caught people's imaginations -- and that it also had a wider and more dramatic effect.

    "It remains in our collective memory -- it actually changed the perception the world had of African football," Paulo Teixeira, who was working as a photographer at the tournament, told CNN.
    "Milla dancing in front of the corner flag became a hit. It was an image of joy, of positive energy, communication through body language.
    "Those goals put Cameroon, and ultimately African football, on the world map."
    Now an agent, Teixeira was born in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and has extensively traveled throughout Africa in his work, giving him an in-depth knowledge of the continent's football development.
    The 63-year-old believes the exploits of Milla and friends also began to alter the way in which people thought about footballers' diets and preparations.
    "His, and Cameroon's, performance made scouts and clubs look differently at African players," he says. "It was proof that they could physically go beyond all expectations, almost defying science in terms of resistance.
    "People started to look at the way African players ate -- no bread, no desserts, no booze, no coffee, no smoking. All was natural -- vegetables, rice, white meat."