Green Lions

I was in Cameroon in 2016 when a local told me how he had spent one week selling cassava on a street stall and the next flying to the 1990 World Cup to face Maradona. The way he told the story, the buoyancy in his eyes, near tears as he rejoiced, told me there was a film in it.

Italia 90 was the most watched sports event in history. As thirty million viewers tuned in for the opening ceremony, the stage was set: Diego Maradona, the architect of Argentina's 1986 triumph, was returning to Italy. In the opposition half that day, a rag-tag side of amateurs, most of whom had been playing barefoot in the dirt when Diego lifted the trophy four years earlier. As Africa's only qualifying nation, Cameroon were expected to be tournament whipping boys. Roger Milla and his men captured the world's imagination and advanced further into the competition than any African team in history.

Green Lions follows the moments of that summer and the players' lives since. Co-commissioned with DAZN, broadcast on BBC4 in November 2022, and currently available on BBC iPlayer.