George Weah, The Only African to win a Ballon d’or title.
George Weah, The Only African to win a Ballon d'or title, his Biography, football career and political career.
George Weah, The Only African to win a Ballon d’or title, his Biography, football career, and political career.
Biography.
George Weah, born as George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah on 1st of October, 1966, is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who served as the 25th president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024.
Before his election for the presidency, Weah served as senator from Montserrado County.
During his football career, He played as a striker in his prolific 18-year professional football career which ended in 2003.
Weah is the first African former professional footballer to become a head of state, and the only African Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year winner in history, winning both awards in 1995.
He won the African Footballer of the Year 3 times and is widely considered one of the greatest strikers of all time.
Early life and education.
George Manneh Oppong Weah was born on 1st October 1966 in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, and was raised in Clara Town, a slum in the city.
He is a member of the Kru ethnic group, which hail from south-eastern Liberia’s Grand Kru County, one of the poorest areas of the country.
His father, William T. Weah Sr.,was a mechanic while his mother, Anna Quaye Weah, was a merchant.
He has three brothers, William, Moses, and Wolo. He was one of thirteen children largely raised by his devoutly Christian paternal grandmother, Emma Klonjlaleh Brown after his parents separated when Weah was still a baby.
He attended middle school at Muslim Congress and high school at Wells Hairston High School and reportedly dropped out in his final year of studies.
Football Career.
After beginning his career in his native country Liberia, Weah spent 14 years playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England.
Arsène Wenger was the first to bring him to Europe, signing him for Monaco in 1988.
Weah moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 1992 where they won Division 1 in 1994 and became the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League.
He signed for AC Milan in 1995 where he spent four successful seasons, winning the Serie A twice.
He moved to the Premier League towards the end of his career and had spells at Chelsea and Manchester City, winning the FA Cup at the former, before returning to France to play for Marseille in 2001.
He ended his career with Al Jazira in 2003.
FourFourTwo named Weah one of the best players never to win the UEFA Champions League.
Weah represented Liberia at the international level, winning 75 caps and scoring 18 goals for his country and playing at the African Cup of Nations on two occasions.
He also played in a friendly in 2018, where his number 14 jersey was retired. He was regarded as one of the best players never to have played at the FIFA World Cup.
Scott Murray in The Guardian refers to Weah as “hamstrung by hailing from a global minnow”.
Weah is widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d’Or in 1995, becoming the first and only player to win these awards while representing an African country internationally, which made him the only African to have won the title so far.
In 1989 and 1995, he was also named the African Footballer of the Year winning the official award twice, and in 1996, he was named African Player of the Century.
Known for his acceleration, speed, and dribbling ability, in addition to his goal-scoring, Weah was described by FIFA as “the precursor of the multi-functional strikers of today”.
In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
George Weah’s Awards.
During his football career, George Weah won the the following awards,
Ballon d’or in the year 1995.
FIFA World Player of the Year, in
1996.
Arthur Ashe Courage Award
2004.
CAF Award for Best Ten players of the last 50 years
2008.
Political Career.
George Weah became involved in politics in Liberia following his retirement from football.
He formed the Congress for Democratic Change and ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting.
In the 2011 election, he ran unsuccessfully for vice president alongside Winston Tubman.
Weah was subsequently elected to the Senate of Liberia for Montserrado County in the 2014 election.
George Weah was elected President of Liberia in the 2017 election, defeating the incumbent vice president Joseph Boakai, and was sworn in on 22 January 2018.
Weah was defeated in a rematch with Boakai in the 2023 presidential election.
