On a day when Cristiano Ronaldo made history by becoming the first footballer to score goals in five World Cups and also become the second oldest man to score a goal at the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet, FIFA honoured the oldest soccer player to score a goal at a World Cup.
GenZers may not have been born when Roger Milla, then 38, scored a goal to take Cameroon into the quarter-final of the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Four years later, Milla, then 42, scored a goal against Russia during the 1994 World Cup in the USA, making him the oldest man to do so in a World Cup.
IMAGE: Ronaldo scored his historic goal via a penalty during the Portugal-Ghana match at Stadium 974 in Doha, November 24, 2022. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters
IMAGE: Ronaldo left Manchester United this week as a consequence of a hard-hitting interview denouncing the club. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters
IMAGE: You would think after scoring more than a hundred goals for his country, Ronaldo's celebrations would be subdued. Not so, as you can see here, and below. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters
Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
IMAGE: FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents Roger Milla, now 70, with an award on the pitch before the game between Cameroon and Switzerland at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
IMAGE: Samuel Eto'o, the former Barcelona footballer who now heads Cameroon's football federation, looks on as his compatriot is honoured. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
IMAGE: GenZers and everyone else reading this feature, do go to YouTube and catch a glimpse of Roger Milla's goals and his enchanting wiggle of hips-big grin celebrations that Ronaldo's airbone jubilation couldn't ever match. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/ Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com