Roger Milla

Playername	Roger Miller
Fullname	Albert Roger Mooh Miller
Dateofbirth	May 20, 1952
Cityofbirth	Yaoundé
Countryofbirth	Cameroon
Height
Position	Forward
Years1	1965–1970
Years2	1971–1974
Years3	1974–1977
Years4	1977–1979
Years5	1979–1980
Years6	1980–1984
Years7	1984–1986
Years8	1986–1989
Years9	1989–1990
Years10	1990–1994
Years11	1994–1996
Years12	1996–1997
Clubs1	Eclair
Clubs2	Léopard
Clubs3	Tonnerre
Clubs4	Valenciennes
Clubs5	Monaco
Clubs6	Bastia
Clubs7	Saint-Étienne
Clubs8	Montpellier
Clubs9	Saint-Pierroise
Clubs10	Tonnerre
Clubs11	Pelita Jaya
Clubs12	Putra Samarinda
Caps(goals)1	61 (6)
Caps(goals)2	117 (89)
Caps(goals)3	87 (69)
Caps(goals)4	28 (6)
Caps(goals)5	17 (2)
Caps(goals)6	113 (35)
Caps(goals)7	59 (31)
Caps(goals)8	95 (37)
Caps(goals)10	117 (89)
Caps(goals)11	23 (23)
Totalcaps(goals)	707 (387)
Nationalyears1	1978–1994
Nationalteam1	Cameroon
Nationalcaps(goals)1	102 (28)

Roger Milla (born Albert Roger Mooh Miller, May 20, 1952) is a Cameroonian former football forward. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

He achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 World Cup, the most memorable of which came in the match against Colombia when he dispossessed the showboating Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita 35 yards from goal, going on to score in the empty net with Higuita stranded. He helped the Cameroon team reach the quarter-finals, still the joint best performance by an African team in the World Cup.

He is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by the legendary Brazilian football player Pelé.

Club career

Born in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, he moved constantly as a child because of his father's railroad job. He signed for his first club in Douala as a 13-year-old. At 18, he won his first league championship with another Douala club.

In 1974, by which time he had moved to Tonnerre Yaoundé and was awarded the African Footballer of the Year award.

In 1977, he was lured to Europe by the French club Valenciennes. However, he was kept on the reserves for two years. In 1979, he joined AS Monaco, but shuttled between the reserves' bench and the injury list. The next year, he joined Bastia, but still did not flourish. He finally found stardom at Saint-Etienne in 1984; he then starred for Montpellier from 1986 to 1989, and became a member of the club's coaching staff after retiring from French football.

National team

While playing in France, he made his first appearance for the Cameroon national team (in 1978). He was a member of Cameroon's team at the 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. He first retired from international football in 1987, and eventually moved to Réunion in the Indian Ocean for his retirement.

However, in 1990, he received a phone call from the President of Cameroon Paul Biya, who pleaded with him to come out of retirement and rejoin the national team. He agreed, and went to Italy with the Indomitable Lions for the 1990 World Cup.

1990 World Cup

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 post 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 matched this feat in 2002, and Ghana matched it in 2010). 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 the lead before eventually losing 3–2.

His second goal celebration against Colombia has been the subject of 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. 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.

Post-playing career

He is now an itinerant ambassador for African causes. In 2004, he was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé in conjunction with FIFA's centenary celebrations.

Milla starred in a Coca Cola advertisement for 2010 FIFA World Cup as the originator of dancing whilst celebrating when scoring a goal. He is seen in the crowd drinking Coca Cola.

Career statistics

|- |1968–69||rowspan="2"|Eclair de Douala|||||||||||||| |- |1969–70|||||||||||||| |- |1970–71||rowspan="4"|Léopard de Douala||||29||25|||||||| |- |1971–72||||30||20|||||||| |- |1972–73||||28||19|||||||| |- |1973–74||||30||25|||||||| |- |1974–75||rowspan="3"|Tonnerre Yaoundé||||29||23|||||||| |- |1975–76||||28||26|||||||| |- |1976–77||||30||20|||||||| |- |1977–78||rowspan="2"|Valenciennes||rowspan="2"|Division 1||0||0|||||||| |- |1978–79||27||6|||||||| |- |1979–80||Monaco||Division 1||16||2|||||||| |- |1980–81||rowspan="4"|Bastia||rowspan="4"|Division 1||30||9|||||||| |- |1981–82||23||8|||||||| |- |1982–83||29||13|||||||| |- |1983–84||31||5|||||||| |- |1984–85||rowspan="2"|Saint-Étienne||rowspan="2"|Division 2||31||22|||||||| |- |1985–86||28||9|||||||| |- |1986–87||rowspan="3"|Montpellier||Division 2||33||18|||||||| |- |1987–88||rowspan="2"|Division 1||33||12|||||||| |- |1988–89||29||7|||||||| |- |1989||rowspan="2"|Saint-Pierroise|||||||||||||| |- |1990|||||||||||||| |- |1990–91||rowspan="4"|Tonnerre Yaoundé|||||||||||||| |- |1991–92|||||||||||||| |- |1992–93|||||||||||||| |- |1993–94|||||||||||||| |- |1994–95||rowspan="2"|Pelita Jaya||rowspan="2"|Premier Division||23||23|||||||| |- |1995–96|||||||||||| |- |1996–97||rowspan="1"|Putra Samarinda||rowspan="1"|Premier Division|||||||||||| |||||||||| 310||111|||||||| |||||||||| 23||23|||||||| ||||||||||

Honours

In 2006, Milla was chosen for best African player of the last century, ending up ahead of El Khatib and Hassan. The election was held by the CAF, the African football association.

References

Roger Milla iPhone game to support his foundation "Coeur d'Afrique" www.oodyss-milla.com

External links

Weltfußball

Worldwide soccer information

Best African Player in The Past Fifty Years

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:FIFA 100 Category:Cameroonian footballers Category:Cameroonian expatriate footballers Category:African Footballers of the Year Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Ligue 2 players Category:AS Monaco FC players Category:SC Bastia players Category:AS Saint-Étienne players Category:Expatriate footballers in France Category:Expatriate footballers in Monaco Category:Montpellier HSC players Category:Valenciennes FC players Category:Cameroon international footballers Category:Olympic footballers of Cameroon Category:Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:1982 FIFA World Cup players Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players Category:1984 African Cup of Nations players Category:1988 African Cup of Nations players Category:FIFA Century Club Category:People from Yaoundé Category:JS Saint-Pierroise players Category:Expatriate footballers in Réunion Category:Expatriate footballers in Indonesia