Roger Milla

• Cameroon

Albert Roger Miller (born 20 May 1952), known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be major stars 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 forwards have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and thus becoming the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history. He helped Cameroon become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Four years later, at the age of 42, Milla broke his own record as the oldest goalscorer in World Cup by scoring against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[2] Milla is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance.[3] In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. In 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[2] In 2007, the Confederation of African Football named Milla the best African player of the previous 50 years.[4] 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 Léopard Douala. In 1976, by which time he had moved to Tonnerre Yaoundé, he was named African Footballer of the Year.[citation needed]