Article 87 — George Weah, President of Liberia
George Weah, the current President of Liberia was a fantastic attacker that played for Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City, Marseille and Al Jazira.
I got to know of Weah in his time in France for Paris Saint-Germain but I only got to see him play regularly when he moved to Serie A to join mighty AC Milan in 1995. In his time in Italy, we got to see Weah at the absolute peak of his power. He had the pace, power and finishing to make him an absolute beast for any defender to come up against.
As a kid watching him, I was left in awe whenever I saw him take off with the ball at his feet. The goals he scored left an impression in my mind. Today when I think of Weah, I remember the powerful shot he had and the ability to run past players by out-sprinting them or just dribbling around them. He was a tough player to knock off as well as he had great physical strength. Watching a compilation of the goals he scored, just reiterated my memory of him. It also showed that he was equally good in the air and had the ability to finish deftly and neatly too.
When he was playing in Italy, Serie A was the best league in the world with the best, toughest and meanest defenders but he took them all on and made it look easy. Before his time at Milan, he started his career in his native Liberia before moving to Cameroon. His first foray in Europe was to France with Monaco in 1988. He was signed by the legendary Arsene Wenger who was recommended by former Malaysia and Cameroon national team coach, Claude Le Roy. Wenger developed him and Weah credited him for the influence Wenger had on his career. In his time at Monaco, he won the Coupe de France in 1991 and helped them reach the European Cup Winners Cup final the following year. It was during his time at Monaco that he won the African Footballer of the Year for the first time in 1989.
He was then signed by Paris Saint-Germain in 1992. He had a successful time in the capital club winning the Ligue 1 in 1993–94, two Coupe de France in his first season, 1992–93 and 1994–95 and the Coupe de la Ligue in 1995. He reached the semi-finals of the 1992–93 UEFA Cup and 1993–94 European Cup Winners Cup and finished as the Champions League top scorer in 1994–95. He was also named the African Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1994.
Now on his time at Milan. As you might be aware, I am a fan of Milan’s cousin, Inter but that didn’t stop me appreciating and admiring the player that he was. He spent five years in Milan. In his first season, 1995–96, he linked up with two other star forwards, Roberto Baggio and Dejan Savicevic and occasionally, lesser-known, Marco Simeone. He was also in the company of other star names and stalwarts of the AC Milan team like captain Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Demetrio Albertini, Roberto Donadoni, Sebastiano Rossi, Marcel Desailly, Mauro Tassotti and Zvonimir Boban. That team was managed by another legendary figure in Fabio Capello.
He had a great debut season winning the Scudetto and scored a memorable solo goal in striking red boots against Hellas Verona at San Siro in that season.
He finished the season as Milan’s top scorer but his eleven goals in Serie A left him 13 goals short of that season’s joint top scorers, Igor Protti of Bari and Giuseppe Signori of Lazio. The crowning glory of that season would be being crowned as the Ballon D’Or and FIFA World Player Of The Year in 1995. It was the first year that the criteria for the Ballon D’Or was changed to include non-European players playing for European clubs and he became the first-ever African and non-European winner of the Ballon D’Or. 1995 would also be the last time he won the African Footballer of the Year award.
Milan were the top dogs in Italy, Europe and the world in the early 90s. By the mid-90s coinciding with Weah’s arrival, their star was on the decline as Juventus emerged as the new top dogs of Italy and appeared regularly in the Champions League final, winning one in four appearances. Weah was a runner-up in the 1997–98 Coppa Italia and 1996–97 and 1999–00 Supercoppa Italiana. There was still time for one last glory in his time at Milan though when they unexpectedly won the Scudetto in the 1998–99 season.
It was unexpected as Juventus and Inter were the favourites to continue their jostle for the title from the previous season but both teams had a below-par season. Milan was coached by Alberto Zaccheroni who employed an unusual 3–4–3 formation which was tweaked to 3–4–1–2 later. On paper, this Milan team wasn’t as strong or as star-studded as the ones from the start of the decade. The ones that remained were Maldini, Costacurta, Albertini, Boban, Rossi, Donadoni.
Milan had a strong second half of the season winning seven games in a row to clinch the title on the final day of the season by one point over their nearest rival on the final day, Lazio. Weah was overshadowed that season by his strike partner, Oliver Bierhoff who scored 20 goals in Serie A. His influence on the team was also declining at that time and looked like he was slipping past his prime.
He then moved to Chelsea on loan in the winter of 2000. At that time, the English Premier League was a league where former star players past their prime in Italy and Spain came to for one last hurrah. But despite making good of his time in London, ending the season as FA Cup winner, Chelsea didn’t sign him permanently. He stayed in England though after he moved on a free transfer to Manchester City at the end of his contract at Milan. After an unsuccessful and unhappy time at City, he moved to France to join Marseille in 2001 before retiring in the UAE with Al Jazira in 2003.
At the international level, he represented Liberia and thanks to his club exploits with Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and Milan, Liberia became known to football lovers because of him. Unfortunately for him and the world, Liberia was one of the minnows of world and African football. Despite his best attempts which included remarkable tales of bankrolling the national team, paying for the travels of the players, providing win bonuses and supplying kits, Liberia didn’t qualify for a World Cup. He did get them to qualify to two African Cup of Nations in 1996 and 2002 but on both occasions, Liberia was knocked out in the group stage.
He would thus be one of the greatest players of all-time never to have won the Champions League and never to have played in a World Cup finals tournament. He earned the nickname “King George” for his breakthrough achievements as an African footballer and for his magnanimous service to his national team. In 1996, he was named African Player of the Century such was his impact on the game in his prime.
I can’t comment on his role as President of Liberia as I don’t know much about it but it is undoubtedly a great transition from being a world-class, superstar footballer to being the leader of your nation. His son Timothy Weah who was born in the U.S. is now representing his country of birth in international football while plying his trade formerly with his father’s old club, Paris Saint-Germain. He is currently playing for French side Lille. Young Timothy will have a tough act to follow as the comparison with his father will always inevitably rise. He has to be strong to be able to put that aside and create an identity for himself.
George Weah will forever be remembered as an iconic, legendary player with a golden heart.
