1. George Weah
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George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah was born on the 1st Octobr 1966 in Monrovia. His formative years were spent at the Young Survivors Claratown and Bongrange Company teams before he moved to Mighty Barolle in 1985, where he impressed with 7 goals in 10 matches. He won the domestic double in 1985/1986 before Invincible Eleven swooped for him and he rewarded them with 24 goals in 23 matches as he won another league title. He played just 2 matches for Africa Sports before Tonnerre Yaounde of Cameroon signed him; he hit 14 goals in 18 games for them. In 1988 he moved to AS Monaco in France, winning the Coupe De France in his 4 years there, racking up an impressive 47 strikes in just over 100 games. Paris Saint-Germain saw the talent and moved for him, which resulted in a trophy-laden 4 year stint at the capital, including a league title in 1994, two further French cups in 1993 & 1995 and a league cup in 1992. He also finished as the 1994/1995 Champions League top scorer with 7 goals in their semi-final run. That’s when AC Milan came calling and he asserted himself as a true global star. He won the league in the 1995/1996 Serie A season with Fabio Capello, finishing as their top scorer. He took the league title again in 1999 before moving on loan to Chelsea in 2000. There he marked his debut with a winner against derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur before starting in their victorious FA Cup final against Aston Vlla. Soon after, he signed for Manchester City but his spell there wasn’t as productive. He switched to Marseille until 2001 (netting 5 goals in 19 games) before looking east to Al-Jazira where he retired in 2003 with 13 goals in just 8 appearances. His amazing goals in Italy led to his induction in the AC Milan Hall of Fame and a nomination as the IFFHS African Player of the 20th Century.
For Liberia, he played 60 games in over 20 years, scoring 22 goals. He was unable to win the African Cup of Nations or qualify for a FIFA World Cup but his skill was not ignored. He won the African Footballer of the Year award in 1989 and then back-to-back in 1994 & 1995. At the same time, he held the BBC African Footballer of the Year and became the only African player to win the Ballon D’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year. He won the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1996 and the 1991 French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year. An incredible figure liked everywhere, but especially so in his home nation, he has been actively involved in politics in his country, campaigning for equality and an end to racism. George Weah is one of the greatest players to ever grace the beautiful game, and he is one of Africa’s greatest, proudest exports. Today, he can be found fighting for the common Liberian man and woman’s rights, but we’ll never forget his exploits on the
