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From San Siro to Executive Mansion, the only President with a Ballon D’Or emerges in Liberia

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah, the first African to win the FIFA player of the year, Ballon D’Or, who was also named as the African player of the century, has emerged winner of Liberia’s Presidential election.

Weah, 51, contested under the Coalition for Democratic Change. He beat the Vice President, Joseph Boakai, the running mate of the incumbent, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who defeated him in the 2005 elections.

Highly revered among contemporaries, his prominence in the 1990s earned him a nickname; King George.

Arsene Wenger, who was his manager in Monaco said;

“Weah was a real surprise. I have never seen any player explode onto the scene like he did”.

Even with much accolades for his football prowess, he is also recognized for his initiative in fighting racism in Football.

His intercontinental football career

• Monaco to Milan

Weah started his football career playing in the Liberian domestic league, winning several National Awards, including the Liberian Premier League and the Liberian cup. His move to Europe in 1988 gave him his big break, signing under Monaco managed by Arsene Wenger, who according to the footballer played an important and influential role in his career.

In Monaco, he won his first major award as African Footballer of the Year (1989), which he took back to Liberia to be celebrated among his kinsmen.

In 1991, he won the Coupe de France, helping Monaco reach the European Cup finals, with his four goals in nine appearances.

Leaving Monaco for Paris Saint Germain (PSG), from 1992 to 1995, Weah brought along his goodwill, with PSG winning the Coupe de France in 1993 and 1995, the French League in 1994, and the Coupe de la Ligue in 1995.

With seven goals, he became the top scorer of the 1994-1995 UEFA Champions League, scoring a skilful individual “wonder-goal” against Bayern Munich in the group stage.

During his time with PSG, he managed to reach the semi-finals of the 1992-1993 UEFA Cup and 1993-1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring a total of 16 goals in 25 European games.

Weah won his second African Footballer of the Year award in 1994.

He moved to Milan in 1995 under Fabio Capello, immediately winning the Italian league in 1996. Weah played alongside Dejan Savicevic and Roberto Baggio in attack position, and sometimes with Marco Simone, finishing the season as the club’s top scorer; winning the Serie A title again.

In Milan, he also reached the 1998 Coppa Italia Final, finishing twice as runner-up in the 1996 and 1999 Supercoppa Italiana.

Although Milan was popular in the early 1990s, it recorded less success in Europe, with its best result being a quarter-final finish in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup.

Coupled with his skill, athleticism and goal-scoring prowess (58 goals in 147 games for Milan), Weah also became famous at Milan for scoring several notable goals, including his goal against Lazio in December 1995, specifically his solo goal against Hellas Verona at the San Siro; taking the ball just outside his own penalty area, and zigzagged his way past seven opposing players, before scoring.

His successful performances in Paris Saint-Germain and Milan led to his receipt of several individual awards; Ballon D’Or, the Onze D’Or and also FIFA World Player of the year (1995), making him the first and, currently, only native African player ever to achieve these feats.

Upon receiving his award, Weah dedicated his victory to his former Manager, Arsène Wenger, for making him develop into a world-class player.

In the same year, Weah also won the African Player of the Year Award for the third time in his career and was named to the Onze de Onze by the French football magazine Onze Mondail.

Although finishing second place in the FIFA Player of the Year award in 1996, Weah also received the FIFA Fair Play award and was voted the African Player of the Century by sports journalists from all around the world. Pelé won the same award as the South American Player of the Century, and Johan Cruyff as the European Player of the Century.

Career challenges

Weah was banned from six European matches for breaking the nose of Portuguese defender Jorge Coasta, on 20 November 1996 in the players’ tunnel after Milan’s draw at Porto in the Champions League.

In defence, he said his reaction to Coasta was in response to the player’s racist taunting during both teams’ Champions League matches that autumn. However, Costa denied the accusations of racism and was not charged by UEFA due to lack of witness.

Weah’s attempt to apologize to Costa was rebuffed by the Portuguese, who considered the charges of racist insults levelled against him to be defamatory. Coasta sought legal counsel.

The incident led to Coasta undergoing facial surgery and he was subsequently sidelined for three weeks. Despite the incident, Weah still received the FIFA Fair Play award in 1996.

• Milan to Al Jazira

January 2000 will see Weah signing into the English Premier League champions, Chelsea Football Club, on loan from Milan, in a deal which would keep him with the West London club till the end of the 1999-2000 English seasons.

Weah’s time in England was deemed a success, especially at Chelsea where he instantly endeared himself to fans by scoring the winning goal against rivals Tottenham Hotspur, on his debut.

He also scored twice in Chelsea’s victorious 1999-2000 FA championship match, netting crucial goals against Leicester City and GIllingham, which led to him starting in the final, and Chelsea finished victorious.

Chelsea’s Manager, Gianluca Valli, did not make Weah’s move permanent, and on 1st August 2000 he officially left Milan, and signed for newly promoted English Premier League side, Manchester United, on a free transfer two-year contract worth £30,000 a week, declining the offer of a £1 million pay-off from Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi.

He played 11 games in all competitions for City, scoring four times, before leaving in October 2000 after becoming dissatisfied with Manager, Joe Royle, for selecting him as a substitute too frequently; he had only played the full 90 minutes in three of his 11 games for the club.

Following his time in England, Weah returned to France, playing for Marseille, where he remained until May 2001. He later played with Al Jazira in the UAE Arabian Gulf Club, where he remained until his retirement as a player in 2003, at age 37.

The need for redemption

As successful as he was at club level, Liberian National team never shared in such glorious moments. In total, Weah played 60 games for Liberia over 20 years, scoring 22 goals.

Liberia is considered the perennial underdogs, being one of the smaller nations in world football, despite Weah’s efforts to support the national squad: aside from being the team’s star player, he later coached the squad, and even funded his national side to a large extent; he remained unsuccessful in helping Liberia qualify for a single FIFA World Cup.

Weah, regarded as being among the best football players who never got the chance to play at a World Cup, would get a chance of bringing his Nation to the telescope of World football, and politics at large.

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