Georges Weah: Mister Georges and President Weah?<

(Ecofin Hebdo) - Life sometimes has the plot of a football match. We face the uncertainties of a missed opportunity, before becoming the providential man and accomplishing a golden destiny. By swapping cleats for suits and football fields for political arenas, George Weah did not escape adversity. If he succeeded in becoming the only African holder of the golden ball, the child of Monrovia, yet very close to the goal, encounters enormous difficulties in becoming president of his country.

Life sometimes tastes like a missed penalty in the final seconds. This feeling, as great a striker as he is, George Weah knows it. However, his team led in the first part of the first round of the 2005 Liberian presidential elections, which he finished first. Despite everything, it is the candidate who came second in the first round, Elen Johnson Sirleaf who wins the elections. The living legend of football must then face one of the bitterest defeats of his life, long punctuated by competition.

This time, he faces Joseph Boakai, but the specter of his previous defeat still hangs over this second round.

We can then imagine the mixture of fear and excitement felt by the only African to have won the European Golden Ball, currently, a few days before the second round of the presidential elections where he came first. This time, he faces Joseph Boakai, but the specter of his previous defeat continues to hang over this second round.

Mister George

Life sometimes tastes like a wonderfully successful dribble. On Tuesday, December 26, 1995, football fans around the world hold their breath. They are waiting for the number 2594 of France Football to know the name of the best player in the world, the famous golden ball. This edition has a major change. For the first time, European players are not the only ones eligible for the most prestigious individual award in the king of sport. In this year 1995, there is indeed a non-European player who could… but no. It's too crazy, even the biggest dreamers have a hard time imagining George Weah winning this distinction.

Life sometimes has the taste of a magnificent successful dribble.

i must learn how to speak old english

— bee time Fri Nov 08 00:12:33 +0000 2019

Between Paris Saint Germain and AC Milan, the two teams for which the child from Monrovia played, the Liberian displayed a stratospheric level. He is top scorer in the Champions League with PSG, before flying to AC Milan, where he will also show off his panoply of complete football. And this goal against Lazio where he eliminates the entire Roman defense before deceiving the opposing goalkeeper! Yes, he won the hearts of football fans, but there is a long way to go from there to winning the Holy Grail of individual football awards. And yet! At the opening of the kiosks, black cap on his head, smiling ear to ear, George Weah throne trophy in hand on the cover of France Football alongside the golden ball. It is a major feat that the child from Monrovia has just achieved, becoming the 40 ^th Ballon d'Or. At 29, he was elected with 144 points, to the detriment of the German Jürgen Klinsmann (108 points) and the Finnish Jari Litmanen (67 points). The one everyone calls Mister George is at the top of European football, away from Monrovia and the difficult life of her childhood.

The Child of Monrovia

Born in Monrovia on October 1, 1966, the 40^th Ballon d'Or, George Manneh Oppong Weah, did not have an idyllic childhood. "When I was growing up in Monrovia, I sold donuts and popcorn every day after school so that my family would have some money so I could pay my school fees," he said. it years later. His family is poor in a mock-nation whose economy is barely finding its feet. Despite everything, the young George Weah cherishes a dream, to become a footballer. He achieved this by starting out with his training club, Young Survireal Clara Town (1981-84). His impressive sense of goal and a surprising technical finesse for a player sporting 1m84, gradually made him known on the Liberian, regional and then continental scene. George Weah leaves his training club for the Bongrange Company of Bongume, the Mighty Barolle, the Invincible Eleven before leaving the Liberian grounds for the Cameroonian lawns and the Tonnerre Yaoundé, where he will share the grounds with a certain Roger Milla. Nonetheless, the talent of the Monrovia kid still seems too big for the continent. He joined AS Monaco in 1988. Having perfected the qualities displayed in his previous clubs, George Weah impresses. Both a solid player and a twirling scorer, he won the 1991 French Cup with the club, and led his teammates to the final of the 1992 Cup Cup, where Monaco lost to the Germans of Werder Bremen. A few weeks later, the Liberian striker joined Paris Saint-Germain. He played for the capital club until 1995. He then joined AC Milan. The rest is history. The one who remains until then the only African with the European Golden Ball will then join several clubs before stopping his career in 2003. He then decides to devote himself to his country. "I know that I have had a successful career, a successful life. If I just sit around and say, "Look, I have a comfortable life," and only think about myself, that wouldn't be fair. It would be very selfish”, explains the striker who, because of his difficult childhood, has a very precise idea of ​​the problems of Liberia. “About 80% of Liberians are unemployed and half of the children go to primary school. Only one in 20 goes to secondary school. Young people are on the streets rather than in the classrooms. We don't give them the opportunity to learn and they will have a hard time finding a job when they grow up”.

Mister President?

In 2005, George Weah lost the presidential elections to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. His aura gained on the pitch and his popularity had nevertheless assured him first place in the first round. The problems arose in the second round, when the question arose of what the legendary footballer could bring as president. After the defeat, which almost degenerated into civil war, George Weah played the card of appeasement. Once his supporters calmed down, he gradually integrated into the political life of the country.

In 2014, he was elected senator from Monrovia with 78% of the vote ahead of Robert Sirleaf, the president's son.

In 2014, he was elected senator from Monrovia with 78% of the vote ahead of Robert Sirleaf, the president's son. Quite naturally, he ran for the presidential elections in 2017. Better known in political circles and more involved in his country, he again finished the first round of the elections in the lead. Maybe this time, despite the ill-disguised fear of a new snub, life will have the taste of a golden ball, of a supreme consecration coming to reward at the end of the effort the refusal to give up of an eternal competitor.

Servan Ahougnon