World Cup Corner

Walter Winterbottom, a former coach to England, once said that an African team would win the World Cup by 2000. Even Pele, one of soccer’s greatest players ever, seconded that opinion. Although Winterbottom predicted this it did not come true. However, Cameroon did come pretty close in 1990.

There were certainly opportunities for an African team to take it all the way In 1982 Algeria seemed like it might go all the way before being cheated by Austria and West Germany. Then in 1986 Morocco was really showing progress and many were wondering if this was it However, it was not until Cameroon in 1990 that the world began to believe that Winterbottom’s prediction might actually come true. It did not but Cameroon really did have a shot.

The opening game for the Cameroon Lions was easy despite playing Argentina with Diego Maradona and quite a few other winners from 1986. This was a real eye opener and hope began to spring up in the hearts of the Lions.

Of course, Maradona was not the same player in 1990 that he was in 1986 and as a result Argentina did not play as well as they had before. Nevertheless, Argentina had won the World Cup four years before and were still an opponent to fear. Cameroon beat Argentina 1-0 and it was not luck or a fluke but rather a team that was prepared, athletic, and organized. Basically, Cameroon showed up ready to play.

Cameroon did have a chance to lose however especially when two of its players were sent out of the game for red cards due to tackles that crossed the line. With only 21 minutes left in the game Roger Milla, a striker for Cameroon, made an appearance. He had played in the 1982 finals but now eight years later he was 38, old for a football player. Nevertheless he was the lucky charm for Cameroon.
In the next game against Rumania Milla made an appearance an hour into the game. In this game he was able to score twice meaning Cameroon made it to the second phase. This semi retired player was playing better than ever and carrying Cameroon towards the finals.

The third game for Cameroon was against the USSR and since they were already qualified for the next round they did not play as competitively. Cameroon lost this game 4-0 but they were thinking about the next game with Colombia. When the matchup began it was obvious the two teams were a good match for one another. Extra time was needed and it was not the best game ever however Milla came in and when one of Colombia’s skilled players attempted to dribble past Milla it was a mistake. Milla stole the ball and scored. He performed his signature dance in celebration and Cameroon was the first African team to make it to the final eight in the World Cup.

This took Cameroon to a quarter final game with England and none of the final teams were showing any signs of being the best of the best. So, it looked as if Cameroon had as good a shot as any other club.
Unfortunately, Cameroon was unable to beat England although they came incredibly close. In fact, they came within seven minutes of winning. Nevertheless, England was the victor and Cameroon was out. If Cameroon had beaten England it is very possible they could have gone all the way. However, that did not happen. The next game was England and West Germany and West Germany won. The final game was between West Germany and Argentina and it was not the best game ever. Lots of people look back at this and wonder what would have happened if Cameroon had beaten England but that did not happen unfortunately.

Unfortunately the Cameroon Lions have not been able to perform the same way in subsequent World Cups although they have done with African Nation titles as well as an Olympic Gold.