Former Cameroon World Cup captain Stephen Tataw dies

Former Cameroon soccer World Cup hero Stephen Tataw died on Friday, in Yaounde after a short illness, the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has confirmed.

He was 57.

Tataw is one of the greatest Cameroonian players of all time. Until his death, he was a staff at the technical directorate of Fecafoot.

One of his last public appearances was during the official draw of the final tournament of the Total African Nations Championship (Chan) Cameroon 2020 held on February 17 in Yaounde, where he assisted compatriot Salomon Olembe to conduct the draw.

Tataw was the captain of the famous ‘Class of 1990’ that made global headlines at the 1990 World Cup in Italy before crashing out at the quarterfinals, the farthest stage reached by an African team at the time.

The right-back also captained the Lions at the 1994 World Cup in the USA

 The highlight of his career was winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1988 in Morocco. He played for local clubs Tonnere Yaounde and Olympic Mvolye before joining Tosu Future in 1995, becoming the first African to play in Japan.

The tributes have poured in for Tataw, including from Argentinian maestro Diego Maradona.

“30 years ago, with Stephen Tataw, captain of Cameroon’s “Indomitable Lions” in the 1990 World Cup. My respects to your family, may you rest in peace,” Maradona said on Instagram alongside a picture of the pair together at the World Cup.

In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo