Roger Miller

Born in Cameroon May 20,1952 married; children. Played semi-professionally with Eclaire de Douala. Played professionally in France for several teams, including Valenciennes, Montpellier, Saint-Etienne, Bastia, and Monaco; played for Cameroon on the 1982 and 1990 World Cup teams. Player and coach for semi-professional team St. Pierre de la Reunion in the late 1980s.

Life’s Work

International soccer star Roger Milla of Cameroon has probably done more for African soccer than any individual in this century. In both literal and figurative terms he has promoted African soccer to the level shared by the elite of the world soccer community. Prior to the 1990 World Cup, African soccer was considered primitive and underdeveloped by the ruling elite of international soccer, and African participation was limited to two teams that were expected to do little more than show up.

But in June of 1990, Milla and Cameroon turned the soccer world upside down for three weeks as they advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament before finally losing 3-2 in a dramatic overtime encounter with England, the nation credited with inventing the game. Milla, at 38 years old, was the hero, scoring four goals. He was heralded around the world as the “heroic patriarch” not only of Cameroon, but for all of Sub-Saharan Africa. “He is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of the World Cup,” commented London Times reporter David Miller.