World Cup History: Cameroon show that Africa can play football

This FIFA World Cup History feature is part of our build-up to the 2014 edition, which will chart the most special moments from previous tournaments. Today we have a look at the 1990 World Cup. CLICK HERE for the full series.

In 1982, Cameroon drew all their matches in a group comprising of Italy, Peru and Poland — a remarkable achievement for World Cup first-timers — that remarkably, no one remembers. But they made sure their second appearance left a mark on World Cup history.

Cameroon’s first match was against champions Argentina — and even though Diego Maradona was playing on a cocked knee and the rest of the team wasn’t at their best, this was a match no one expected the Albiceleste to lose. It was slightly fortuitous some say, with the most infamous tackle (by Cameroon’s Benjamin Massing on Claudio Caniggia) being described in the book All Played Out as “a general intention (where it) seemed to be not so much to break Caniggia’s legs, as actually to separate them from the rest of his body.”

But to credit Cameroon’s win to reckless tackling would be like crediting Maradona’s miraculous 1986 goal to slipping Englishmen. The Africans played with such passion that despite having two men sent off, they looked like an XI that was never going to lose. In the 67th minue, François Omam-Biyik rose and hung in the air to send a strong header towards goal — ideally goalkeeper Nery Pumpido should have kept it out but his touch wasn’t enough and the ball spun into the net to rapturous applause from the Italian crowd for an African team. For a match at least, there was no racism.

Cameroon continued their fairytale with a 2-1 win over Romania — and this time, it was 38-year-old Roger Milla who announced himself to the world. The striker had retired three years earlier from international football and was recalled at the request of the country’s president Paul Biya, and oddly enough, bureaucracy got it right this time. Not only did Milla’s two goals against Romania ensure that Cameroon went into the knockouts, he scored another brace in the first knockout round against Colombia to convince onlookers that Cameroon’s run was miraculous, but no fluke.

Romania may have proven weaker than they seemed on paper, but the game against Colombia was where stupidity rather than skill earned Cameroon a win. Rene Higuita, who thought his dribbling was better than Milla’s tackling and finishing, tried to take on the striker in an epic display of idiocy. Milla won the ball and scored for the second time in extra-time to seal the deal. Colombia hit a goal in the 115th minute, but it was not enough.

From rank outsiders who were 500/1 to win the World Cup, Cameroon were suddenly the darlings of the neutrals — playing football that had a raw beauty — their basic tactics torturing the more adept sides. Suddenly, the whiteboard in the dressing room with all those complicated arrows didn’t matter. Next up were England, who were arguably playing their best World Cup football since 1966 — with the mercurial Paul Gascoigne and the in-form David Platt and Gary Lineker in the side.

It was Platt who gave England the lead in the 25th minute with a cracking header from the far post before Emmanuel Kunde equalised from the penalty spot after being tripped by Gascoigne. England’s defence was quite shambolic in the match which saw lots of goalmouth action and Eugene Ekeke took advantage of woeful marking to collect a through ball from Milla and finish it off to give Cameroon a shock lead in the 65th minute.

In the 83rd minute, Cameroon’s ruggedness cost them — Bertin Ebwelle lunged into Lineker who was spinning for a shot and England had a penalty. Lineker stood up and converted. While that particular foul is hotly debated, Cameroon’s overall play itself had led to an impression of being too rough — it is this approach that probably ended their dream run.

England would lose to West Germany on penalties in the semis, both of which were decided on shootouts — Argentina beating Italy in the other match. The final was also decided on a penalty, Andreas Brehme scoring from the spot in the 85th minute to give West Germany their third title.

For Cameroon, their performance convinced FIFA to add another African spot for future World Cups — and as a consolation for his performances, Milla was picked in the All-Star team.

World Cup 1990 Hosts: Italy Winners: West Germany (1-0 vs Argentina) Top-scorer: Salvatore Schillaci (6 goals)

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