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<p>It seems like only yesterday when Italia 1990 took place, probably the first World Cup that could honestly begin to claim it was a global spectacle. As if by magic, the Cameroon side that qualified for the 14th World Cup were able to explode all over the world and show people that African international football had arrived. It wasn’t that previous qualifiers from Africa hadn’t given a good account of themselves, Algeria in 1982 were cheated out of qualifying for the 2nd round. They’d just not been consistent throughout a tournament.</p>
<p>1990 changed all that almost immediately. The World Cup traditionally opened with the defending champions playing in the first game, and Italia 90 was no different. It was expected to be a turkey shoot, as Argentina faced Cameroon on June 8th in Turin. After 90 minutes, African football had come of age thanks to Omam-Biyik’s 67th minute header condemned the holders to a 1-0 defeat. It was a result that made football fans the world over sit up and take notice.</p>
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<p>Other than the win, the game featured quite possibly one of my <a href="http:\/\/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeRlJJbtdHc&amp;feature=related" target="_blank" rel="noopener">favourite ever tackles</a> in a game of football. Suddenly, anything was possible and Cameroon would have an adventure that almost reached fairytale proportions. It would be the story of the 1990 World Cup and especially thanks to one player it would live on in the memory long after the finals had drawn to a close. Cameroon’s fantastic run was built on a foundation of pace, strength and the lethal finishing of a 38 year old journey man striker called Roger Milla.</p>
<p>Milla had been a striker of average talents that had plied his trade in the French First Division throughout the 1980’s but by 1989 had moved the the French island of Réunion to take up a post of player coach for St.Piere. His French club career had seen him play for Monaco, St. Etienne and Bastia amongst others, but had retired from international football. The country managed to talk him back for a 3rd World Cup and he was instrumental in the achievements throughout the World Cup.</p>
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<p>After dispatching Argentina, Cameroon beat a well fancied Romanian side 2-1, with Milla getting both goals before a final defeat came against the Soviet Union 4-0. It mattered not, they finished top of the group, even with a negative goal difference, but found Colombia in the next round. To all intents and purposes, the dream would surely run out of steam against another South American side, but after 90 minutes the games was level at 0-0. Milla had come on as a substitute and they were hanging on.</p>
<p>Suddenly in the second half of extra time, Milla came alive, scoring 2 goals in 2 minutes, the second one that will haunt Rene Higuita, Colombia’s iconic goalkeeper for the rest of his life. He came sprinting from his goal to try and play sweeper, dallied and Milla robbed him, ran on and slotted the ball in to the empty net. 2-0, game over, the legend of the Indominatable Lions was made in those minutes. Colombia stole a late goal but to no avail, they were out and Cameroon became the first African country to make the quarter finals.</p>
<p>The next match will live long in my memory, mostly because of how much England struggled, despite taking the lead through David Platt. Cameroon’s movement and pace had unsettled England to the point that they were 2-1 down, once again with Milla taking centre stage. Coming on as a substitute he set the first with a beautiful pass and was brought down for a penalty, which was converted to put Cameroon 2-1.</p>
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<p>England were facing the exit but with 7 minutes remaining Gascoigne played Lineker in and a rash tackle gave a penalty away. Lineker, ever the predator, scored and in to extra time we went. It was then that the Cameroonian legs began to tire and the English pushed on for a winner. Both sides had been involved in extra-time tussles, but Cameroon seemed to be feeling the effects more. A carbon copy pass from Lineker once again invited a rash challenge and once again the result was the same.</p>
<p>It was an effort too much for the Lions to try and pull level and England’s experience told as the clock ticked down to the final whistle. They were out, but to a man, every fan in the ground and stood and applauded the Cameroon team as they waved Italia 90 goodbye on a lap of honour. They had come so far, achieved so much and won so many admirers for the passionate way they played the game. African football grew in stature that month in 1990 and all football fans around the world should be thankful for Roger Milla and the Cameroon team that won Italia 90’s hearts.</p>
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World Cup Legends #2: Cameroon 1990 - World Soccer Talk

World Cup Legends #2: Cameroon 1990

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<p>Tomorrow sees that magical mark of 100 days until the 19th World Cup begins and the chase for places outside of the main names is really beginning to hot up. Fabio Capello will probably have a definite idea of around 10 names who will certainly be on the plane to South Africa injury willing. James, Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Rooney, Defoe, Milner and Beckham will probably be certain of inclusion but for once, the rest of the squad would seem to be all to play for.</p>
<p>Over the next few days, I’ll be casting my eye over some of the outsiders and squad players who will be hoping to be involved this summer and make a real name for themselves. Some may be reliant on players failing to recover from injury, some will be hoping to force themselves in to the reckoning and some will fall at the final cut off point. I’ll be looking at who and where the chances apply and why I think they should or shouldn’t go to South Africa.</p>
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<p>Suffice to say, several positions have opened up through injury and whilst no-one wants to miss out, sometimes injury can allow players who may not have been chosen to push forward into the squad. England, in recent big tournaments has seen certain players stamp there mark on big tournaments for differing reasons.</p>
<p></p><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignleft" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20100301_WST_16364_013923.webp&amp;width=172&amp;height=229" alt="" width="172" height="229"></figure></div>John Barnes in 1986 and 1990 saw both sides of the coin. An electric substitute appearance against Argentina in the 1986 World Cup was well remembered, Barnes’ absence through injury in 1990 saw the side progress to the semi-finals. After years of sub-par England performances, the 1990 World Cup was the nadir for his international career as the fans grew tired of his failure to replicate his phenomenal league performances at international level.<p></p>
<p>Peter Beardsley also saw his international stock rise in 1986 and formed a fabulous partnership with Gary Lineker, but only with England facing expulsion in the first round. After replacing Mark Hateley in the starting line up against Poland, Beardsley never looked back and slotted in for the next 5 seasons.</p>
<p>Mark Wright, for many, England’s stand out centre half in the run up to 1986, missed the tournament after breaking a leg. His replacement, Terry Fenwick is not favourably remembered by many England fans. Wright would show his true quality in the 1990 tournament, scoring the goal that allowed England to progress into the knock out stages and continue to play until injury finally caught up with him.</p>
<p>David Platt was another who made a name for himself through the misfortune of another. A peripheral player, it was Bryan Robson’s injury against Belgium that saw Platt write his name in England’s history, with a winner in the last minute of extra time in the same match. That effectively ended Robson’s international career, whilst Platt’s reputation went through the roof.</p>
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<p>David Beckham will always remember 1998 in France for all the wrong reasons, but pushed those memories to one side when he scored the winner against Argentina in 2002. Beckham, at the time, was playing his best football of his career, probably since that sending off in St. Etienne. That red card made him the player he became in my eyes and pushed him upward towards the iconic status he holds in English football these days.</p>
<p>Overall though, the next 3 months will see several players try everything in their power to make that final squad of 23 that will embark to the base of Rustenberg in June. There are spaces in the England team, no doubt about it, perhaps more than we can think of right now, but I honestly think 8 squad places are up for grabs and I’ll cover who I think can make it over the next few days. Please leave me your comments and thoughts on who you’d like to see in Fabio’s final 23.</p>

The Outsiders Chasing A Place In The England World Cup Squad - World Soccer Talk

The Outsiders Chasing A Place In The England World Cup Squad

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World Cup Legends #2: Cameroon 1990

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The Outsiders Chasing A Place In The England World Cup Squad