Passion or Profession: Soccer Player

Period: 1952–

A native of Yaoundé, Milla enjoyed success as a professional soccer player in Cameroon and France. He played for Cameroon’s 1982 World Cup team, then came out of retirement to score four goals for the Cameroon team that reached the 1990 World Cup quarterfinals (then the best-ever African result). In 1994, at the age of 42, he became the oldest player to score in the final stages of the World Cup. He was named one of the one hundred best living players by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association in 2004. In 2007, the Confederation of African Football named him the best African player of the past five decades.