20, May 2020
How Roger Milla confounded the sceptics 0
When Cameroon’s president demanded a soon-to-be 38-year-old striker’s inclusion in the World Cup squad it was seen as a new low for African football.
The game on the continent had long been dogged by the fatuous interventions of powerful politicians, but messing with selection for the sport’s global showpiece event seemed harebrained in the extreme.
President Paul Biya had watched Roger Milla, who celebrates his 68th birthday on May 20, play a charity game a few weeks before and insisted his inclusion in the squad for the 1990 finals in Italy.
Milla was days away from turning 38, earning retirement money playing on the French island of Reunion and long past his heyday, which included competing at the 1982 World Cup, playing in three Africa Cup of Nations finals and scoring more than 100 Ligue 1 goals for Bastia, St Etienne and Montpellier.
“I got a call from the president who said he thought I should play. I was in no position to argue,” Milla said.
Biya’s order turned out to be a fortuitous masterstroke, even though Milla himself was unsure whether he would cut it.
“I knew that if I got into shape I’d have a chance to make an impact,” he said. “When I returned to the national side I got a warm welcome from the younger players. But the older ones had ganged up against me and were not so happy to see me.”
Just weeks later, however, that had all changed as the veteran forward captured international imagination, no more so than when wiggling his hips in a provocative assault on the corner flag as he celebrated a goal in Cameroon’s unlikely march to the World Cup quarterfinals.
The dance is better remembered than the breakaway goal against Colombia as Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions went further at the tournament than any African team had been before, eventually losing to England in extra time in a tense quarterfinal.
“We just really wanted to have fun, but that we achieved new things for African football made it special,” Milla added.
In all, he scored four goals at Italia 90 and extended his record as the tournament’s oldest goalscorer when he netted one more at the World Cup in the US four years later.
By then Milla had become a symbol for a continent, with his exploits after emerging from semiretirement earning him the accolade as the best African footballer of the 20th century.
Source: Reuters
21, May 2020
Football legend says games without fans ‘sadder than dancing with your sister’ 0
Spain coach Luis Enrique says playing behind closed doors is “sadder than dancing with your own sister”, as football faces the prospect of games without supporters for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany’s Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume last weekend following the two-month shutdown, with strict hygiene measures enforced at all matches across the country.
“(Playing without fans) is sadder than dancing with your own sister. It’s not attractive,” Luis Enrique told the “Colgados del aro” (“Hanging from the hoop”) basketball show on Wednesday.
“I watched the German football and it’s a sad sight. You hear the voices, you even hear the insults… you lose the intimacy of the better moments.
“But you also have to understand it’s a business that generates lots of money, and even if the spectacle is a long way from that when there’s fans it can help in dealing with the confinement.
“Watching football again or any other sport, as a fan it’s interesting,” he added.
Luis Enrique returned to his job as Spain coach in November after resigning last June to take care of his daughter, Xana, who died in August of cancer.
“(As a player), I would have liked to get back playing as soon as possible. I have no fear,” he said.
“I was a bit scared at one moment for my parents, my in-laws and the elderly people I cherish and above all for the people who may suffer. But on a personal level, I have zero fear.”
Euro 2020 has been postponed by a year due to the health crisis and Luis Enrique admitted the uncertainty was affecting everyone involved.
“We’re going day by day. We’re waiting for football to return and later down the line we will restart with some friendlies.
“In theory, the national team should play friendly matches in September as usual. But there are more important things right now so we need to be patient.”
Source AFP