Milla tells TT: Play with pride

"Don’t just go there and play. Go there and play with pride and show your ambitions," Milla told TTFF Media during a recent interview in the company of top FIFA dignitaries and players.

Milla rose to stardom when scored four goals in 1990 World Cup in Italy including two against Romania in their second match. He hit two more in extra time against Colombia to carry Cameroon to the quarter-finals which was the furthest any African team has ever reached at the World Cup along, a distinction shared with Senegal in 2002.

Milla returned to the 1994 World Cup at the age of 42 and scored against Russia, breaking his own record as the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup Finals.

The footballer, who changed his name spelling from Miller because he felt it was now be more African, said while he was disappointed that Cameroon did not make it to Germany, he was pleased to see newcomers such as TT and the other Africa qualifiers Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana and Angola.

"You are just like the other newcomers. Many, many people will be watching the World Cup and they will see you as a new nation on this big stage. Your country has worked very hard for this. I know what this is like. I did it two times before," he said.

"When we went to Italy we were the small team. I know Trinidad and Tobago has very good skills and even if you don’t get many monies for this or many good results, at least you can feel good about going there and giving a good show," added Milla as he tried to speak his best English.

He also recalled the name Jack Warner and also described his feelings on South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

"I think it’s great. It’s not South Africa’s World Cup. It’s Africa’s World Cup. We are very excited about this. This will change a lot of lives. I know not a lot of the Caribbean but I think the football there can develop and we can see you more times in the World Cup," Milla said.

He is now ambassador for African causes. In 2004 he was named to the FIFA 100— a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pele in conjunction with organisers of FIFA’s centenary celebrations. "I saw the match against Bahrain and I saw you fight for the win and I want to tell all of Trinidad good luck and enjoy this World Cup," Milla ended.