George Weah

====AC Milan and individual success====
Weah joined [[AC Milan]] in 1995, winning the Italian league in [[1995–96 Serie A|1996]] under [[Fabio Capello]]. He played alongside [[Roberto Baggio]] and [[Dejan Savićević]] in Milan's attack, as well as [[Marco Simone]] on occasion, and finishing the season as Milan's top goalscorer. He won the Serie A title once again in [[1998–99 Serie A|1999]]. During his time with the club, he also reached the [[1997–98 Coppa Italia|1998 Coppa Italia final]], and finished as runner-up in the [[Supercoppa Italiana]] on two occasions, in [[1996 Supercoppa Italiana|1996]] and [[1999 Supercoppa Italiana|1999]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Despite their European dominance in the early 1990s, Milan were less successful in Europe during this time, however, with their best result being a quarter-final finish in the [[1995–96 UEFA Cup]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Exhibiting skill, athleticism and goalscoring prowess, Weah became famous at Milan for scoring several notable goals, in particular a solo goal against [[Hellas Verona FC|Hellas Verona]] at the [[San Siro]] which saw him deftly control the ball from Verona's corner kick just outside his own penalty area, before he set off.<ref name="Boban"/> With all his teammates back defending the corner Weah made a beeline for goal, leaving his own teammates in his wake.<ref name="Boban"/> His teammate [[Zvonimir Boban]] stated, "It was an incredible run. We were thinking, 'When's he going to stop? When's he going to stop? He's not going to stop! He's never going to stop!'".<ref name="Boban">{{cite news |title=The Joy of Six: Goals from corners |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/jun/17/joy-of-six-goals-corner-kicks |access-date=16 October 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Weah finished by rifling the ball into the bottom left corner before an exuberant [[goal celebration]].<ref name="FIFA">[https://web.archive.org/web/20131020073045/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=2187/ "Iconic Weah a true great"]. FIFA. Retrieved 17 November 2013</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A forensic analysis of George Weah's wonderful solo goal against Verona |url=https://www.planetfootball.com/nostalgia/forensic-analysis-george-weahs-solo-goal-verona-21-years/ |access-date=16 October 2018 |agency=Planetfootball.com.}}</ref>

Due to his performances with both Paris Saint-Germain and Milan, in 1995 Weah was the recipient of several individual awards: he won the [[Ballon d'Or]], the [[Onze d'Or]], and was named [[FIFA World Player of the Year]], becoming the first and, currently, only African player (by FIFA nationality) to win these awards, and second African-born player to do so after [[Eusébio]]. Weah dedicated his FIFA World Player of the Year victory to his former manager, Arsène Wenger, stating that it was thanks to him that he was able to develop into a world class player.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/274/782/7/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310024357/http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/274/782/7/|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 March 2016 |title=Weah: Ballon d'Or put me and Liberia on the map |publisher=FIFA |date=27 December 2015|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref> That year, Weah also won the African Player of the Year Award for the third time in his career, and was named to the ''Onze de Onze'' by the French football magazine ''[[Onze Mondial]]''.<ref name="FIFA"/> In 1996, Weah finished second in the [[1996 FIFA World Player of the Year|FIFA World Player of the Year]] ranking; he was also the recipient of the [[FIFA Fair Play Award]], and was voted the African Player of the Century by sport journalists from around the world.<ref name="FIFA"/>

Weah was banned from six European matches for breaking the nose of the Portuguese defender [[Jorge Costa]] on 20 November 1996 in the players' tunnel after Milan's draw at [[FC Porto|Porto]] in the Champions League. Weah said he exploded in frustration after putting up with racist tauntings from Costa during both of the teams' Champions League matches that autumn. Costa strenuously denied the accusations of racism and was not charged by [[UEFA]] as no witnesses could verify Weah's allegations, not even his Milan teammates. Weah later attempted to apologise to Costa but this was rebuffed by the Portuguese, who considered the charges of racist insults levelled against him to be defamatory and took Weah to court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/1194989.stm |title=Court postpones Weah trial |website=BBC Sport |date=28 February 2001 |access-date=28 February 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020910103217/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/1194989.stm |archive-date=10 September 2002}}</ref> The incident led to Costa undergoing facial surgery and he was subsequently sidelined for three weeks. Despite the incident, Weah still received the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/1996/12/18/weah.t_0.php |title=Weah's Ban Puts Soccer's Fairness Rule on the Line |access-date=19 June 2008 |work=International Herald Tribune}}{{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>