This man is hot. Not content with being the reigning African Footballer of the Year and the first Ballon d’Or winner hailing from outside Europe, George Weah was also recently named by FIFA as the best player on the planet.
No sooner had he received the prize, he beckoned his mentor Arsene Wenger to join him on stage and handed it over. For Weah, brilliance on the field and generosity off it come in equal measure.
After all, how many players would shoulder the financial burden for their own country’s impoverished football federation? Weah is a riverside lad from Monrovia who would have been resigned to a career as a telephone technician, if not for the fame and fortune that football offered him instead.
The Lone Stars, as the Liberian national team are nicknamed, are his baby. He pays the air fares of his European-based team-mates to attend crucial matches, buys their kit and even dishes out the win bonuses. Weah effectively enabled Liberia to qualify for a first appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.
He is perhaps football’s best bargain buy of the past 10 years. Remarkably, the £6 million striking pearl – the price Milan paid Paris Saint-Germain in the summer already looks like exceptional value – once cost a paltry £12,000, when Monaco bought him from Cameroonian club Tonnerre Yaounde in 1988.
But Weah’s transformation into a world-acclaimed goal-hunter who sat at the top of last season’s Champions League scoring charts, even though PSG didn’t make it to the final, has been no joyride. He’s had to plot his success while coping with the haunting thought that his parents, caught up in the thick of Liberia’s civil war, could easily have been butchered like so many others.
Under Wenger’s tutelage at Monaco, Weah was able to develop his game. If his deftness of touch and natural sense of awareness doesn’t scare the life out of the opposition, his powerful physique makes him almost unmarkable.
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Milan president Silvio Berlusconi had no qualms in recruiting the forward – he even thrust his team of lawyers into a no-holds-barred, spare-no-expense battle all the way to the European Court in Strasbourg to potentially pronounce that Weah was a French citizen, so as not to upset the Italian quota of two non-EU players per club. The Rossoneri already had Zvonimir Boban and Dejan Savicevic on their books, but boss Fabio Capello needed a player worthy of filling the hole that was left behind by Marco van Basten’s retirement. Roberto Baggio was also signed from Juventus.
It’s been a remarkable European odyssey for Weah – here, the striker reminisces about that journey…
After helping Liberia qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, what do you tell those that label you a one-man team?
It’s not true. Maybe they say so because I single-handedly sponsor the team without receiving assistance from the government or any other person. I’ve committed my personal funds because I want Liberia’s global image, which has been badly dented by the civil war, to be repaired through football.
How do you spend your own money on your national team?
I buy all the playing gear and return international air fares for some of the country’s European-based players, to enable them to report for Liberia’s various matches in different countries. I also pay match bonuses to my less financially endowed team-mates to make them happy and motivate them into giving the country their very best.
Have you kept track of how much you’ve spent on the Lone Stars?
Lots of money! It’s not appropriate for me to disclose the amount I’ve spent so far. When you spend money on your country willingly, as I do, the amount involved is irrelevant. But I will say this – it’s been a big responsibility that has run into tens of thousands of dollars.
Just a few days ago, Liberia’s sports minister visited you in Milan, looking for further financial assistance. Does having to spend so much bother you?
No, because I believe that I’m doing something to improve the lives of my younger team-mates still in Liberia, and I want to use the exposure gained by playing in high-level tournaments, like the Africa Cup of Nations, to get them professional contracts in Europe.
How was it when you first moved to Europe to play for Monaco?
It wasn’t so easy. I had to readjust to the cold European weather and the business-like attitude to football, which is absent in Africa. I was very lucky to have met Arsene Wenger. His coaching contributed to what I’ve become today. He treated me as if l was his own son.
Has it been lonely living in France and Italy, thousands of miles away from your friends and family in Liberia?
Yes, because there’s no place like home. While any European colleagues can call their families at a reasonable rate or easily fly out to see them, I cannot go to Monrovia at the drop of a hat to see my family because of the distance and time involved. So the alternative is to phone them regularly. By the time I’ve spoken to my parents and members of my extended family, my monthly phone bill is in the region of $5,000 to $6,000. Fortunately, I have my very supportive wife and children by my side and that helps me to think less of home, so I can concentrate on playing well.
The brutal Liberian Civil War was raging on while you were playing for Monaco and PSG. Did knowing what was happening at home affect you?
It had a very adverse effect on me. I didn’t know whether my parents were dead or alive, as it was impossible to call Liberia at the time. Unfortunately, people found it difficult to understand the torment that I was going through here – Europeans find it very difficult to appreciate what we Africans go through when we think about home. As far as they are concerned, we’ve been paid to do a job and we just have to do it. But if they were in my shoes, they would have been in a worse mental state than me.
How have you managed to settle into living and playing in Italy so far?
As far as football with Milan has been concerned, everything has gone very well. It’s of the utmost priority that my wife and children like Milan because if they don’t, I’d have to send them back to live in either New York [Weah has two houses in the United States] or Liberia, which would make it very lonely for me, living by myself here in Italy.
You’ve met Marco van Basten, whom you were bought to replace after he retired due to injury. What do you have to say about him?
Through our regular chats at the Milan dining table, I’ve come to discover that he’s a very nice guy. It’s unfortunate that he had to quit the game, as I’d always dreamed of playing with him.
What is it like to be playing upfront next to Roberto Baggio?
It’s very rewarding. He’s an intelligent player with virtually no technical faults. When we play together, we have a good working relationship. I’m trying to learn new tricks from him as well.
Learning a new language can be difficult. How has it been for you?
[Smiles] Quite good. I took on a tutor who visits my home on Mondays and Fridays. I’m very eager to learn, so that I can communicate with my team and understand all of the instructions from Mr Capello. Even though football has its universal language, it’s important that I have a working knowledge of Italian as well. But at the moment things aren’t too bad, because a lot of my new mates here can speak English or French.
What has been your most sour experience with coaches since you began playing in Europe?
It would be with Paris Saint-Germain’s Portuguese coach, Artur Jorge. He used to confine me to the bench even when I was playing well, which I found very frustrating. I never bothered to ask him why he did that because, as far as I was concerned, I was doing well enough in training to be a regular in the first team and was convinced things would sort themselves out, which they did.
An interview in the Nigerian magazine Complete Football International quotes you as saying, “Artur Jorge is a racist – he doesn’t say it, but it’s glaring that he is.” Is that quote accurate?
Well I cannot recall saying that, but I know that he made things very difficult for me when he was PSG’s trainer.
Are you affected by any temptations from the much-hyped glitzy lifestyle in Italy – the fast cars, trendy clothes and gorgeous women?
I’m not into any of those mundane things. Business is business – I’m in Milan to play football. [Pauses] Well, I must confess that I like good clothes and pick out the occasional good pair of shoes, but that’s it. The job comes first and any other thing is secondary.
Are there any other footballers that you particularly admire?
All black players, but if you want specific ones, I’ll go for lan Wright of Arsenal, Tony Yeboah of Leeds, Jay-Jay Okocha of Eintracht Frankfurt, Rashidi Yekini of Sporting Gijon and Abedi Pele of Torino. When I see other Africans doing well, I feel proud. Players from countries such as Nigeria and Ghana opened the way. Their hard work has given African players a good image and encouraged European clubs to have faith in our ability.
Italian ‘calcio’ is still new for African players. Do you see yourself as the man who will open the way for other Africans to move to Serie A?
No. It was Roger Mendy [the Senegalese international who played for Pescara] and Abedi Pele that opened Italy up for African players. When Milan saw their exceptional performance, they decided to move for Marcel Desailly [a French international who was born in Ghana] and he didn’t disappoint them, which I think encouraged them to go for me.
Has Liberia’s inability to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations affected you?
A whole lot! It was very frustrating because we’ve had the talent to have qualified before, but poor preparations have always been our undoing, up until now. It’s only recently that I’ve been in a position to give the team financial support. Liberian players possess the kind of talent that can hold its own with Nigeria and Ghana in African football, but our mentality towards preparing for competitions has always been a major problem. However, with the exposure that several Liberian players have now had in Europe, which has shown us how football teams should be managed, I’m convinced that things can change for the better for the national team.
Do you ever wish you’d been born in another country, which would have made your passage in football easier?
That’s a very difficult question, but I believe that for whichever nation God decides to place you in, it’s done with a purpose. Despite all the problems that have engulfed Liberia, I’m proud to be Liberian. I can never be ashamed of my country because of the problems we’ve been facing. What’s most important now is to see how we can start to put things right so that we can become a peaceful nation once again.
How did you feel when you were named 1995 African Footballer of the Year, having lost out to Nigeria’s Emmanuel Amunike in 1994?
Very happy. I wasn’t expecting it, but I guess that my performance with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last season and my current form with Milan must have contributed towards them giving me the award.
You’re the most famous Liberian in the world! Do you feel a lot of pressure on you under that spotlight?
Being the centre of attention does put pressure on me because I’m seen as my country’s ambassador, on and off the pitch. But when I see the appreciation the Liberian people have showered on me for the little work that I’ve done, it spurs me on to do even more for my country, which I love so much.
Four Liberian postage stamps were recently released in tribute to you. What’s it like to be the first Liberian sportsman, and perhaps only African football player, to be so honoured?
It was overwhelming. I never knew that people held me in such high esteem. To think I would be honoured in that way actually feels beyond belief.
You finance Junior Professional FC, who recently won the Liberian First Division. Tell us about them?
I’ve been bankrolling the team since October 1993. They won the Second Division championship last season and went ahead to win this season’s First Division at their first attempt. That was a big shock in Liberia, because when I started to sponsor the team many people laughed at me, saying I would never be able to match Mighty Barrolle and my former club Invincible Eleven, who were the top clubs in Liberia. When the Liberian Football Association took the title away from them on spurious grounds, it made me angry. My players were depressed after the title was so unfairly taken away from them, but I told them not to worry as I’m very pleased with the way they performed. I sponsored the team because I wanted to show my countrymen that the youth are the future of Liberia.
Do you have the widely rumoured ambition to become the president of Liberia when you leave football, considering you’re the country’s most popular personality?
No, it’s not my wish to become the president of Liberia. My mission is simply to use football to make Liberia known in a good light all over the world. I know what it means to carry such a responsibility. But I do hope that true democracy comes to Africa, so that its citizens can speak freely about what they do or don’t like about their various governments. I really admire the way that politics is played in Europe and I hope African politicians will take a leaf out of their book in the future.
Have the leaders of the various warring factions in Liberia tried to get you to support their point of view on the way to bring peace?
Not exactly. The leaders of the various factions involved in the conflict are my friends, but they’re politicians and I’m a sportsman. They should do their best to find a lasting resolution to the crisis in Liberia and bring the much-needed peace to ordinary Liberians, while I and my Lone Star team-mates do what we can to promote the international image of the country through football.
What life do you see for yourself after you quit football?
I could be a coach or I’d like to help the Liberian Football Association in some way. Whatever happens when I retire, I think it would definitely have to be something that helps to boost the profile of sports within Liberia.
There’s no doubt that your time in Europe has made you a very wealthy man. Many believe you must be a millionaire in any currency to be able to sponsor both your national team and a Liberian football league club…
[Laughs] A millionaire? I wish I was a millionaire! A large part of what I earn goes to people who are in need. As long as hunger is far away from my door, I’m happy. I would estimate that I’ve spent close to 20 per cent of my earnings in European football on my extended family, my friends and fellow Liberians that I don’t even know. Perhaps if I was a mean and selfish man who keeps all of his money to himself, then I may be a millionaire by now! [Laughs]
This feature first appeared in the March 1996 issue of FourFourTwo
