Roger Milla, Hero Since Childhood
On May 20, 1952, a football star was born in Cameroon, who knew soccer was his life. Popularly known as Roger Milla, he holds the record of being the oldest player in the FIFA World Cup. He made his debut at a very young age of 15 years for Eclair de Douala. By the age of 17 years, he became the high jump champion. Milla with his achievements became the first African player to share the international limelight.
Clubs Matches
In his career Milla played 747 club matches, scoring 409 goals for the clubs. He had been a team member of almost all the clubs. After making a debut with Eclair Douala, he played for Leopards Douala, Tonnerre, US Valenciennes, AS Monaco, SC Bastia, AS Saint Etienne, Montepillier, JS Saint Pierre, PelitaJaya and Pitra Samarinda to name. He has also been a coach of the Montpellier team from 2001-2007. In 2011 he was appointed as the director of football for the Tonnerre team.
International Career
Read More
Milla made his international debut in the world of football 1973 while playing for Cameroon against Zaire. At the age of 36 years, Milla planned for an early retirement and left football in 1988. But two years later, President Paul Biya called up Milla and requested to rejoin and play for the team. Milla agreed and went to Italy with the Indomitable Lions in the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA World Cup
Milla had the opportunity of playing in 24 world cup matches during which he scored 13 goals. Apart from Cameroon, he has played for Argentina, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Poland and Peru. He has the record of being the oldest player to score a goal in a football World Cup. At the age of 38 years when forward players plan for retirement, Milla was breaking the records.
He scored 4 goals in the FIFA World Cup 1990. He carried Cameroon to the quarter finals and was also declared as the African Footballer of the year. Four years later he again broke his own record for being the oldest goal scorer by scoring a goal against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Goal Celebration
He initiated a very different style of expressing happiness after the goal. After making every goal Milla used to go to a corner. He enjoyed a little dancing and celebrating after every goal. That has become a patent style and still followed by the players. With love it is known as Goal celebration.
Roger Milla has been a shining star in the history of Cameroon Football. He took the team to heights where nobody could. Since childhood, his passion towards football and his hard work made him a star in the world of football.
“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”
