People often let top players slip their mind once their career is over, especially when they pursue other interests outside of the game. One such star is George Weah!
The former Liberia international, who is now the president of his home nation, played for various top clubs around the world in his heyday, and while doing so displayed skills and abilities that not many players would be able to boast. He was tall, fast and had all the physical ingredients required to be a striker at the highest level. At the same time, though, there was something soft, gentle and elegant about the way he glided across the pitch with the ball at his feet.
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He somehow managed to find the perfect balance between brute force and delicacy in the way that he approached the beautiful game. Since retiring in 2003, Weah has gone into politics and then lead the country he once represented on the football pitch. Do not, however, let that achievement distract you from what he accomplished during an amazing professional career in the game.
His career began on a much smaller scale than what he would later become accustomed to, playing professionally for Liberian clubs Mighty Barrolle and Invincible 11 between 1986 and 1987. He then moved to Ivorian club Africa Sports and just a few months later joined Cameroon's TKC Yaounde. This jumping of clubs would set the tone for the man who would seldom spend longer than four years with a team.
Nevertheless, Weah hit the big time when then-AS Monaco manager Arsene Wenger brought him to Europe in 1988. this would mark the beginning of great things for the Liberian, who spent four years at Les Rouge et Blanc, during which he racked up 149 appearances, scoring 66 goals and amassing 14 assists too.
His performances would grab the attention of Paris Saint-Germain, who secured his signature in 1992. It was a successful period for both the club and the player – a mutual relationship that resulted in goals, glory, and silverware. They won the French league title at the end of the 1993/94 season and the following year, Weah ended the UEFA Champions League campaign as the competition's top goalscorer with eight strikes.
That was also the year in which his excellence was recognised and rewarded. He won the coveted Ballon d'Or award in 1995, becoming the first-ever African footballer to win the prestigious accolade. To this day, he remains the only man from the continent to have achieved this feat. He also walked away with the FIFA World Player of the Year award that year, and much like the Ballon d'Or, he was, and still is, the only African player to have been awarded that prize too.
After what was arguably the most successful spell in his career, he made the move to AC Milan, where he would spend four seasons showing the Italians the talent that African footballers had to offer, paving the way for those who would come after him. He won two league titles with the Rossoneri, for whom he netted 58 times and created 36 goals in 147 appearances.
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Weah also had brief stints with Premier League sides Manchester City and Chelsea, winning the FA Cup with the latter in 2000.
Not only was the three-time African Player of the Year an inspiration to those on the continent, he was also one of the few players Arsenal icon Thierry Henry looked up to. And why would he not look up to the player who was capable of picking the ball up in his own half, beating a few defenders, before arriving in the opposition box and beating the goalkeeper, all while making it look as though he did not even break a single ounce of sweat?
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