George Weah

George Weah

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (born 1 October 1966 in Monrovia[1]) is a Liberian politician and former football forward. He spent 14 years of his professional football career playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England, winning titles in these three countries. In 1995, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year. Weah has since become a humanitarian and politician in Liberia, and ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 Liberian presidential election, losing to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the second round of voting. Weah is the only FIFA World Player of the Year who failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup with his national team.George Weah was born and raised in the Clara Town slum of Monrovia. He is a member of the Kru and bassa ethnic group,[2]


which hails from south-eastern Liberia's Grand Kru County, one of the poorest areas of the country. His parents were William T. Weah, Sr. and Anna Quayeweah. He was raised largely by his paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown. He attended middle school at Muslim Congress and high school at Wells Hairston High School. Before his football career allowed him to move abroad, Weah worked for the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation as a switchboard technician. George Weah converted from Christianity to Islam but later reverted back after having spent ten years as a Muslim. He hopes for peace for Muslims and Christians, and says they are "one people."[3]He is married to Clar Weah, a Jamaican who resides in USA. George Weah is the father of four children: George Jr., Martha, Timothy George, and Jessica, who was adopted from Jamaica. His son, George Weah Jr. once played for the US U-20 team, with his close friend Freddy Adu. He is also good friends with Joshua Smith. Weah Jr. played for the AC Milan Primavera team in the 2005–06 season. He was given a trial at Slavia Prague, but the club decided not to sign him.[4] He also had a trial with the Swedish top club BK Häcken, but the club didn't sign him. [5] His younger brother Clarence, plays for the amateur club St. Paul Twin Stars in the United States.At the pinnacle of success, Weah moved hid to Europe in 1988 when he was signed by Arsène Wenger,[6] the manager of Monaco, who Weah credits as an important influence on his career.[7] At Monaco, Weah was a member of the team that won the French Cup in 1991. In the 1990s Weah subsequently played for Paris Saint Germain (1992–95), with whom he won the French league in 1994 and became the top scorer of the UEFA Champions League 1994–95; and AC Milan (1995–1999), with whom he won the Italian league in 1996 and 1999. In 1995 he was named European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Milan in January 2000 Weah moved to Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique Marseille in quick succession, before leaving Marseille in May 2001 for Al Jazira FC, in the United Arab Emirates. Weah's time in England was deemed a success, especially at Chelsea where he instantly endeared himself to their fans by scoring the winner against rivals Tottenham Hotpsur on his debut,[8] and scored further league goals against Wimbledon[9] and Liverpool.[10] He also scored twice in Chelsea's victorious 1999/2000 FA Cup campaign, netting crucial goals against Leicester City[11] and Gillingham.[12] This led to him starting in the final, which Chelsea won 1–0. At Manchester City he scored once in the league against Liverpool again,[13] and three times against Gillingham again, this time in the League Cup, once in the first leg[14] and twice in the second.[15]As successful as he was at club level, Weah was not able to bring over that success to the Liberian national team. He has done everything with the squad from playing to coaching to financing it, but failed to qualify for a single World Cup, falling just a point short in qualifying for the 2002 tournament. This has all led to Weah being known as one of the best footballers never to have played in a World Cup.Weah was named world Fifa for 1995, becoming the only African player to win the award. He was the fifth recipient of the award. The Silver trophy was won by Paolo Maldini, and the Bronze by Jürgen Klinsmann. The other four recipients were: Lothar Matthaus '91, Marco Van Basten '92, Roberto Baggio '93, and Romario in '94. Weah also won the silver trophy the following year which was won by Brazilian striker Ronaldo.Weah won the African player of the year in 1989 when he was with AS Monaco and 1995 with AC Milan. That year he won almost every award a footballer could win. When he won the award in 1989, it was his first major award and he took it back home for the entire country to celebrate, similar to what he did when he won the world best title and the Onze Mondial title.