FRANCE 98 – Team Detail

The “Brazilians of Africa” have led the way for the continent in the World Cup. For the most part, the players have developed in Europe, notably France. Every four years their World Cup dreams sparkle but a lack of discipline and internal problems has until now stopped the team doing justice to their obvious talent.

In 1990 they became the first African country to reach the quarter-finals, finally going down to England 3-2 in extra-time. In 1994, the legendary Roger Milla (winner of the Golden Ball in Africa in both 1976 and 1990) played and scored in the World Cup finals, scoring at the age of 42 against Russia — the oldest player ever to score in the tournament finals.

It was the Germans who introduced football to Cameroon around 1880, but the first official match was not played until 1926 — a game between a team formed by French colonials and one comprised of local residents. The first clubs, The Dragons, Indigenous Stars and L’Ecole Normale were formed in Yaounde. The Indigenous Stars, comprised entirely of local players, dominated the early years and did not lose until November 11, 1930, when they were finally beaten by Canon Yaounde.

A championship was started, first based in the region around Yaounde, then spread to Douala and was progressively improved to involve the rest of the country. The competition was not affiliated with the African Football Confederation until after independence in 1960. Oryx Douala dominated the early years of the championship and won the African Champions Cup in 1965. That win set the pattern for a domination of continental club competitions, notably Canon Yaounde winning the African Champions Cup in 1971, 1978 and 1980, Union Douala winning the same championship in 1979 and Tonnerre Yaounde (winners of the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 1975).

The national team enjoyed similar success, winning the African Nations championship twice, in 1984 and 1988, and making the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy , where Milla was was star for the Indomitable Lions with four goals for a team that also included big names in Thomas Nkono and François Omam Biyik. Now for France ’98.