Roger Milla: At the World Cup, “no other player has scored a goal like that”

Q: Do you still hear a lot about your World Cup in 1990?

A: “ Always. These are the people who make sure that I am remembered, I receive phone calls from everywhere, from supporters, from people who enjoyed this World Cup, who glorified this national team of Cameroon.“

Q: What are your memories of this epic?

A: “Only very good collective memories, from our qualification to our great match against England (the quarter-final lost 3-2 a.p.), and of course, personally, my four goals. The best scorer (Toto Schillaci) was six, if I had also taken the penalties I might have finished 2nd or 1st. An African footballer finishing in the top 5 of a World Cup, we had never seen that, nor among the top three scorers.“

Q: Double against Romania (2-0), double against Colombia in the round of 16 (2-0 a.p.), each time entering the game, which is your favorite?

A: “The best part is the pass I made to myself on the second match against Romania, I hope you will write a big article on this goal, because no other player has scored it one like that. I don’t understand why you don’t talk about Africans more. For me it’s a question of racism. If a Brazilian, a German or a French had marked it, you would have broken the ears of the whole world with this outstanding goal (laughs). As he is a Cameroonian, a black, we made no comment. Yet Europeans tell me he should be among the best goals in the whole world.“

Q: Can you tell it?

A: “He starts from a free-kick from the left, played between Pagal and Kunde, a defender takes Kunde’s foot on his control, the ball comes towards me with a leap and when I look up I see that Omam-Biyik is in defense with only one defender, I try to make an aerial one-two with him, but no one touched the ball I recovered behind and I shot the goalkeeper. A player who passes to himself is unheard of in football! Even my friend King Pelé abdicated (laughs)!“

Q: Did you realize then that this team had touched the whole world?

A: “JI think that from this first qualification for the quarterfinals, FIFA was born, the whole world understood that in Africa there are very, very great footballers and very great football nations on which he must be reckoned with. Ghana (2010), Senegal (2002) did the same after us, we want other teams to get there. That year a door was opened for the African continent.“

Q: Already at 30 at the Mundial in Spain you could have scored a goal…

A: “In 1982 I could have opened my counter against Peru (0-0), but for the whole world it was a goal, I put it in my archives, there was a goal. That year (Cameroon beaten in groups by Italy, future world champion, in terms of the number of goals scored), we could have gone to the semi-finals and we could have reached the final and created a surprise.“

Q: You still score in 1994 at 42, are you proud to remain the oldest goalscorer in the World Cup?

R: “Against Russia (6-1) in the last match, I scored the only goal, with technical ease and the strength of a young man (laughs). But we should have done better, we still lead against Sweden until four minutes from the end of the first match (2-2). Yes I am proud of it. I proved to the whole world that even at 42, if you are well preserved, you can. I am a legend in Africa, or in South America, where King Pelé asked why I was not born Brazilian. I did it for my country and my continent, I would like us to talk more about it in Europe, in France, where I have spent my entire career.“

Interview by Emmanuel BARRANGUET , published on L’Express.fr