Green Lions

The Cameroonian team that reached the quarter finals of the 1990 World Cup was the first African side to get that far in the competition; but, in part because of their success, also maybe the last team to comprise a bunch of mostly unknown semi-amateurs that ever will do so. Today, talent scouts from the richest nations scour Africa for talent; then, players like the verteran Roger Milla, who'd actually had a club career at a high level (and who came out of retirement to play) were the exception. The team succeeded thanks to their energy, genuine skill (Milla's goals stand out as much as his enthusiastic celebrations) but also, to be frank, through brutal fouling of their most feared opponents. They returned to a poor country where they became national symbols, but not necessarily rich. It's a great story, though it's sad that at its heart is massive global inequality. This documentary has interviews with many of the protagonists: genuinely ordinary people who rose to the challenge of becoming heroes.