At 38, Roger Milla came off the bench in a Round of 16 match against Colombia at Italia 1990 and changed the story of African football. Colombia's goalkeeper, the eccentric René Higuita, tried to dribble past him outside the penalty area. Milla took the ball off him and rolled it into the empty net.
Then came the dance. Milla ran to the corner flag and shook his hips, and that celebration became the defining image of the tournament.
What did Milla's goal change?
Quite a lot. Cameroon won 2-1 and became the first African team to reach a World Cup quarter-final. Milla, at 38, became one of the oldest men to score at a World Cup at that point.
He should not really have been there. Milla had retired and came back specifically for the 1990 World Cup, at the personal request of the president of Cameroon.
The goal itself was part comedy and part instinct. Higuita's gamble outside his box was the comedy. Milla's reaction, quick and ruthless, was the instinct of a striker who had been waiting his whole life for a keeper to try something like that. The dance supplied the joy.
Italia 1990 had plenty of drama, but few moments made as many people smile. Milla showed that age was not the obstacle people assumed, and that African football belonged on the world stage.
Tomorrow: number 23.
