Kicking Against the Odds: George Weah’s Rise to Golden Ball Glory

The Ballon d’Or award began in 1956, and the list of winners won by Blackpool player Stanley Matthews was capped with a single crown for the African continent, thanks to former Liberian international George Weah. , who later became the president of his country.

For example, but not limited to, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, Mohamed Salah and Rabah Madjar are African names who have shone in the sky of European football, but have not won the glory of crowning the Ballon d’Or, especially since they came at a difficult time in an era when Competition for the award was fierce with many football greats.

What an exception

The exception occurred in 1995, when Liberian George Weah was crowned with the Ballon d’Or, becoming the first and last African to receive the honor.

George Weah had a brilliant career at many teams, starting with Monaco, then Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City, Marseille and Al-Jazira of the Emirates.

Weah beat a number of stars to win the European Footballer of the Year award, as it was called at the time, as he competed with Alan Shearer, Luis Figo, Brazilian Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, Marcel Desailly and many others.

Weah began his career at Monaco, but he shone most at Paris Saint-Germain, where he helped his team win the league title once, the French Cup twice and the League Cup once, and was also the top scorer in the Champions League. In the 94-95 season, Paris Saint-Germain reached the semi-finals, they lost to Milan, and then Weh attracted the attention of the Lombard club.

George Weah moved to Milan in July 1995, where he was regarded as one of the club’s legends after scoring 58 goals in just 147 matches, winning two Italian league titles during his time with the Rossoneri.

1995 was a pivotal year for Wia and African football by winning the Ballon d’Or for the first and last time.