One of the misconceptions about Africa, which modern marketing is doing its best to undo, is that the continent can be spoken about as just one country. Some of the reasons it is regarded as such is because of the (mostly) shared history of colonialism and the categorisation as one by some official institutions, including FIFA.
Africa was one region for the suits in Zurich, but so were other continents -- the difference was that Africa was perceived as lower in stature and more complicated to understand. That was not helped by circumstances that conspired to ensure the Africa that the footballing world knew until 1990 was overwhelmingly limited to the northern part of the continent. It was northern Africa from which five of the seven teams appeared at World Cups between 1970 and 1986. The other two were memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.
Zaire's showing in 1974 was used, with racial undertones, as an example of sub-Saharan football's backwardness rather than being explored in its context against the backdrop of a cruel dictatorship. Cameroon's 1982 performances were overshadowed by Algeria's victory over West Germany, however, which was understandable considering the allegations of collusion in the infamous West Germany-Austria draw in the final group stage match that eliminated Algeria and later resulted in FIFA's revision to the scheduling of the final group stage matches at future World Cups. Nevertheless, how many people remember that Cameroon left Spain unbeaten?
The wider world also cared little that West African nations such as Ghana and Nigeria were being crowned African champions in the 1980s; what they knew of the game below the desert was that it was underdeveloped. 1990 changed that.
By that year, Cameroon were on something of a high. They won the African Nations' Cup (ANC) in 1988, although they failed to defend that title in 1990. They were then victorious in four of their six matches in the group stage of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup and beat Tunisia 3-1 on aggregate to secure their spots. By comparison, Egypt were the continent's kings in 1986; they won three of their six matches in their qualifying pool and beat Algeria 1-0 to make a return to the tournament for the first time since 1934.
The Pharaohs had been gone a long time, and it showed. Although they drew against Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland, they lost to England and were bottom of their World Cup group. For the first time, a team from farther south in the continent outshone one from the north, and Egypt were not the only people Cameroon shocked.
Their surprises began from the outset when the squad was picked. After Cameroon's group stage exit at the 1990 ANC, the country's president, Paul Biya, wanted to make sure they had their bases covered when they played in Italy. For him, that meant coaxing a 38-year-old who was playing at a little-known club in the little-known island of Reunion, Roger Milla, out of retirement. It was a decision not everyone agreed with.
Cameroon's pretournament camps in France and Yugoslavia were filled with infighting and dotted with defeats to club sides. Argentina had every reason to write Cameroon off, but they were wrong. Known as the Indomitable Lions, Cameroon lived up to the moniker and stalked Argentina like predators. Their defensive showing could have been called primitive -- they earned 30 bookings, 11 against Maradona, but in the end, it was effective.
What it did not do was hint that a miracle was on its way. In the 66th minute, Cameroon were victims of a foul and were awarded a free kick. Emmanuel Kunde took it, Cyrille Makanaky headed backward and Francois Omam Biyik met it with a well-timed jump to send it into the back of the net. That moment will be remembered as the one when black African football announced itself to the world. The celebrations on the field overflowed into the whole of Africa and swelled six days later.
In their second match against Romania, Cameroon took the lead against the Europeans in the 76th minute through the president's man. Milla's tango with the corner flag may as well have lasted 10 minutes, because that was the time he took to score both goals. Romania's consolation goal meant nothing because Cameroon were all but assured a place in the knockout round. Their 4-0 defeat to the Soviet Union in the final group stage match is little more than a footnote on the journey of this dream.
Another South America opponent awaited in the second round and again, Cameroon were not expected to advance ahead of them. Colombia proved as nervous as Cameroon, and for more than 100 minutes, there were no goals on either side. Super-substitute Milla was the difference again. He scored twice in three minutes, the second goal coming after Rene Higuita, the Colombian goalkeeper, sprinted from goal, leaving Milla to aim at an empty net. Milla could serenade the corner flag with gusto because Colombia's only answer came with five minutes to play and it was too little, too late.
Cameroon had climbed the next rung on the ladder and became the first African team to play in the quarterfinals. They met England and came from behind to lead 2-1 until the last 10 minutes of play. Cameroon were made to rue their aggressive style of defence. A rash challenge on Gary Lineker gave away a penalty to drag the game into extra time, where the effects of the extended encounter against Colombia began to show. Another penalty was conceded and converted, but Cameroon still left the tournament with a lap of honour and a massive sense of achievement.
"I'll tell you something. If we had beaten England, Africa would have exploded. Ex-plo-ded," Milla told France Football afterward. "There would have been deaths. The Good Lord knows what he does. Me, I thank him for stopping us in the quarterfinals."
To this day, Cameroon have yet to live up to the promise of the squad of 1990 in other World Cup, and it remains their ambition to emulate and even surpass that outfit. Brazil presents another opportunity to capture the magic of that memorable summer from 24 years ago.