Roger Milla

Born Albert Roger Miller on 20 May 1952, Milla played as a forward and became one of the first African players to command serious attention on the world stage. He turned up for three World Cups with Cameroon, but it was the 1990 edition that rewrote the script: at 38, an age when most strikers have long retired, he scored four times and helped Cameroon become the first African side to reach the quarter-finals. His corner-flag dance - a move like the lambada - became the tournament's signature image. Four years later he returned at 42 and scored against Russia, extending his own record. By the time he stopped, he held five World Cup goals, the African record until Ghana's Asamoah Gyan passed him. Pelé named him to the FIFA 100 in 2004; three years later CAF called him the best African player of the previous half-century.