World Cup Memories (1990): The African Samba

In the 1990 WC in Italy, the European hopes were based mainly on 3 teams; West Germany, the hosts Italy and the reigning European champions Holland. The West German team, playing their final WC as a divided nation duly won the cup; but after starting their campaign with a thumping 4-1 win over Yugoslavia (ironically as Germany would get united, Yugoslavia would be divided in to a number of smaller nations), the Germans never showed their brilliant attacking game again. Even their 1-0 victory in the final over Argentina was marred by controversial referring decisions. They were without doubt the best team in the tournament; but while they were competent, methodical and well disciplined, they failed to show the kind of flair expected of the world champions. As for the hosts Italy, the enormous pressure of the high expectations of the home fans led to them taking the cautious approach; there were just too much emphasis on the defense. They didn't concede before the SFs, but still finished only 3rd. The poor form of star striker Vialli combined with the coach Vicini's reluctance in using Roberto Baggio regularly led to Italy failing to put enough pressure on the opposition defense. Holland boasted a group of highly talented but often erratic players; and at Italy, the second characteristic dominated. There were talks of disunity within the camp even before the start of the event; at one stage the team captain Gullit threatened to leave the team. While that didn't happen; the Dutch just showed up in their return to the biggest stage after a gap of 12 years, and a 2-1 defeat against Germany in the round of 16 saw them go home .

Normally, in WC football, most of the excitement, on and off the field, is provided by the Latin teams and their fans. The 1990 event was an exception. For the 3rd WC running, Brazil finished their first round matches with a 100% record. But, the Dunga and co. produced a string of most un-Brazil like performances; a 2-1 victory over Sweden was followed by 1-0 victories over lowly Costa Rica and Scotland. Then, in the round of 16 match against arch rivals Argentina, they missed half a dozen clear cut chances before losing 1-0. Argentina eventually reached the final; but they were boring and predictable. Maradona was closely marked, the firepower of Valdano was sorely missed during this event, and Buruchagga, whole goal made the big difference in the final 4 years earlier, looked a pale shadow of his old self. In this scenario, Maradona and his men, almost literally limped in to the final. Overall in 7 matches they only managed 5 goals; interestingly the only other occasion Argentina finished runners up in WC football, in Uruguay 1930, Stabile, their forward, alone scored 8 times in 4 matches. Colombia went in to this WC on the run of some brilliant displays in the qualifiers; but their lackluster showing in Italy showed that they were not yet ready for the big stage. With star playmaker Valdoramma in rather subdued form, the only excitement was produced by their flamboyant goalkeeper Rene Higuita.

With the European teams putting too much emphasis on the technical aspects of the game, and the Latin giants failing to produce their usual flair, Italia 1990 became one of the most boring WC ever; in fact the goal average of 2.21 goals per match during this event still remains the WC record for the lowest. The only bright spot in this event was the performance of the football team from the West African nation of Cameroon, and specially the brilliance of their 38 year ‘young' striker Roger Milla. Milla, a veteran of Cameroon's maiden WC appearance in 1982 (then they drew all their 3 group matches, and failed to make it to the 2nd round on goal counts); retired from football in the mid 80's; but the higher authorities in Cameroon recalled him for the Italy WC. Initially, most soccer lovers expected him to make a few cameo appearances here and there; but he would surprise everybody by scoring 4 goals in the event; to help Cameroon become the 1st African nation to reach the last 8 of a WC. Also, his trademark goal celebration, dancing beside the corner flag, became extremely popular among the soccer fans. Especially the video of his celebration after scoring his 2nd goal against Colombia, still remains a YouTube hit.

The Cameroon team shook the world on the first day of the event; beating Argentina 1-0 on a bright sunny day at San Siro. Maradona looked busy initially creating little gaps in the opposition defense, but the rest of the team looked very ordinary and very static. The Africans mainly relied on the counter attacks,.After a barren 1st half, Omam Biyik, the Cameroon striker scored the only goal of the match with a header in the 67th minute; helped by a poor goalkeeping error by Pompido. The Africans held on to the lead, despite the fact that they finished the match with only 9 men. As for Milla, he came on as a sub to play in the last 10 minutes of the match; but he didn't give us any clue about the things to come.

It was in their 2nd match, against Romania, at Bari, that we first saw the real influence of the man. Like Cameroon, Romania also won their first game; a 2-0 victory over USSR. So, at Bari a draw would have been enough for both the teams; and indeed during the first 60 minutes we saw both teams taking the cautious approach. At this juncture, Mr. Milla entered to change the scenario, he scored twice on the 76th and the 86th minute respectivel ; and although Romania scored late; the match finished 2-1. With qualifications for the next round assured, Cameroon relaxed in the next match, and lost 4-0 to USSR; it didn't matter much. The Soviets went home, Cameroon reached the next round as group champions. Most of us felt that the Africans had already achieved their goals for the event; Milla and Co. thought otherwise.

Cameroon's opponent in the round of 16 was Colombia. The Colombians came in to this event with a reputation of being a free flowing, high scoring football team; but in Italy, they failed to show their best. The match at Naples, had a slow start; after the regulation 90 minutes it was 0-0; even the entrance of Milla in the 2nd half didn't seem to have any effect. It was in the extra time, that the real drama started. Mila scored twice in quick succession; the 2nd goal was especially memorable. Higuita, the Colombian goalkeeper was well known for his unorthodox movements; one of his favorite move was to dribble past opposition strikers. Here during the extra time, he tried this against Milla, some 35 yards from the goal. Milla, the old pro wasn't foxed; he timed his tackle to perfection to snatch the ball. As he headed towards the goal, Higuita in a desperate bid chased him, he even tried to foul the veteran Milla; but to no avail. Milla simply tucked the ball in to the net to score his 4th goal in the event. Like Romania earlier, Colombia got a late consolation goal; but Cameroon won 2-1 to reach the QFs.

This was new territory, not only for Cameroon, but also for Africa. No African team had previously reached the last 8 in a WC; here Cameroon was up against England. Cameroon had their chances in the 1st half; but failed to convert those; and England scored via Platt from a breakaway move to take the lead. But, yet again the entrance of Milla around the hour mark changed the course of the game. Here, he didn't score, but he drew a foul inside the opposition box to earn a penalty, calmly converted by Kunde. Minutes later, a neat pass from him completely split the England defense, the English fans watched in agony as Ebeke finished the brilliant move by tucking the ball in to the net. With around 20 minutes left, Cameroon was close to the SF. But at this stage, the one weakness in their football appeared to hurt them; the lack of discipline in their defense.

It was evident from the very first day of the WC, that under the influence of their Soviet coach, the Cameroon team was playing mainly European style of football. Their passing was neat, and there was good pace in the side. Forwards like Milla and Omam Biyik constantly threatened the opposition goal. The only problem was their defense, there were just too many rash tackles, to many silly fouls. In the 1st match, Andrea Kana Biyik (the brother of Omam) and Massing both were shown the red cards. On that day, the team got away with it; but they were not so lucky against England. Here, the defenders committed two needless fouls inside their own box to concede two penalties, one in regulation time, the other in extra time. England striker Gary Lineker converted both, to take England to the SF, the Africans went home.

So, Milla and company returned home with their heads high; they were the first African team to reach the QFs; and although Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) have equaled the feat, they have failed to improve it. More importantly, from the perspective of the viewers of the 1990 WC, they were the only bright light. In a WC, Dominated by the defense, controlled by the workmanlike midfielders rather than by the playmakers, they played free flowing passing football, providing us with great entertainment.

Epilogue; The Cameroon team and Milla (then 42 years ‘young') was again there in USA in 4 years time. But, this time the Africans failed to impress; a 2-2 draw against Sweden was followed by a 3-0 defeat against eventual champions Brazil and a 6-1 thrashing against Russia. But, still Milla made his mark, he scored against Russia, to become the oldest player to score a goal in WC football (in fact, he broke his own record set in 1990). The record still remains, and is unlikely to be broken by anyone.