Hero Milla feeling let down by Africa

The former Cameroon international – a star at the 1990 World Cup in which he scored four goals on the way to defeat to England in the quarter-finals – also hit out at his own nation's woeful display in the tournament, blaming indiscipline.

Only Ghana this summer and Senegal in 2002 have matched Cameroon's achievements since then, and Milla said he expected more from the home continent.

"It was disappointing," he said. "A lot of people were saying that there would be three African teams in the second round and only Ghana made it, although that was to the quarter-finals.

"I was hoping for more and expecting more, along with better results."

Milla said he was "obviously disappointed" by his countrymen's efforts, with their 2-1 defeat to Denmark making them the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.

Cameroon's campaign imploded as coach Paul Le Guen struggled to cope with in-fighting in the camp, but Milla said: "The lack of discipline that has been happening over the past three years made the results not a surprise.

"Being eliminated in the first round was, unfortunately, something that could have been foreseen. There was a lot of indiscipline within the team and some issues between the players."

Milla was talking at a function for Coca-Cola's Celebration Campaign, which donates money to the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) Water for Schools project every time a player celebrates a goal at the World Cup.