George Weah

===Style of play===
====Player profile====
During his prime in the 1990s, Weah was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world. He was lauded for his speed, work-rate, stamina, and attacking instincts, as well as his physical and athletic attributes, which he combined with his finishing, technical ability and creativity.<ref name="Iconic Weah a true great"/><ref name="p193">{{Cite book |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=978-0-553-82566-4 |last=Marcotti |first=Gabriele |title=Capello: The Man Behind England's World Cup Dream |date=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/capellomanbehind0000marc/page/193 193] |url=https://archive.org/details/capellomanbehind0000marc/page/193}}</ref> A fast, powerful, physically strong player, with an eye for goal, many observers agree that he successfully filled the void left in the Milan attack by club great [[Marco van Basten]].<ref name="Iconic Weah a true great">{{cite web |title=Iconic Weah a true great |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=2187/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020073045/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=2187/|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 October 2013 |publisher=FIFA | access-date=13 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lawrence">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/apr/09/facup.sport |title=The wonder of Weah |first=Amy |last=Lawrence |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=9 April 2000 |access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="George Weah">{{cite web |title=George Weah |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/638186/George-Weah |website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=13 December 2014}}</ref> In addition to his pace, acceleration, [[Dribbling (association football)|dribbling]] skills, and goalscoring ability, as a multi-functional forward Weah was also a team player who was capable of creating chances and assisting goals for teammates.<ref name=magliarossonera.it>{{cite web |url=http://www.magliarossonera.it/protagonisti/Gioc-Weah.html |title=George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah |work=Magliarossonera |language=it|access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maidirecalcio.com/2012/09/13/quanto-era-forte-george-weah.html |title=Quanto era forte George Weah... |work=Mai Dire Calcio |language=it |date=13 September 2012|access-date=23 October 2015|archive-date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106104134/http://www.maidirecalcio.com/2012/09/13/quanto-era-forte-george-weah.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Along with [[Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)|Ronaldo]] and [[Romário]], Weah was viewed as a modern, new style of striker in the 1990s who would also operate outside the penalty area and run with the ball towards goal, at a time when strikers primarily operated inside the penalty area where they would receive the ball from teammates.<ref name="Iconic Weah a true great"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Ronaldo, Klose: Different to the finish |url=http://www.espnfc.com/blog/world-cup-central/59/post/1915680/comparing-brazil-striker-ronaldo-and-germany-forward-miroslav-klose-world-cup-goalscorer-records |publisher=ESPN |access-date=13 December 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.in.com/news/sports/ronaldo-romario-reinvented-strikers-role-says-thierry-henry-53023207-in-1.html "Ronaldo, Romario Reinvented Striker's Role, Says Thierry Henry"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153503/http://www.in.com/news/sports/ronaldo-romario-reinvented-strikers-role-says-thierry-henry-53023207-in-1.html |date=6 March 2016 }}. In Sports. Retrieved 16 January 2015</ref> Among the next generation of strikers who were inspired, [[Thierry Henry]] states, "George Weah, Romário, and Ronaldo changed the game for me. It was the first time as a striker I saw players that could score on their own. Pick the ball up anywhere and score. Before as a number nine, people would say 'stay within the line of the box, don't move too much, don't go to the wings, don't drop, stay.' Then I saw George Weah. And then I saw Ronaldo. And I saw Romário in a different way before those two. And it was like 'hang on a minute, someone has lied to me'."<ref>{{cite news |title=Thierry Henry names 3 players that 'changed the game' for him |url=https://tribuna.com/en/arsenal/news/2020-04-04-thierry-henry-names-3-players-that-changed-the-game-for-him/ |access-date=14 November 2020 |newspaper=Tribuna }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

One such goal that exemplified this ability was against Verona in 1995 where he received the ball in the edge of his own penalty box and ran the length of the field.<ref name="Lawrence"/> Scoring such a goal in Serie A – the best defensive league in the world – saw media outlets such as ''[[La Gazzetta dello Sport|Gazzetta dello Sport]]'' running pages of analysis for days afterwards, and calling it the greatest strike of all in Italian football.<ref name="Lawrence"/> On his impact on the sport, Weah states, "When I look at my idols – [[Pelé]], [[Diego Maradona|Maradona]], [[Franz Beckenbauer|Beckenbauer]], [[Johan Cruyff|Cruyff]] – they did a lot of great things. I came into the game and made history too."<ref name="Lawrence"/>

====Reception====
Named African Footballer of the Year three times and the first African to win the Ballon d'Or and be named FIFA World Player of the Year, Weah's prominence in the 1990s led him to be nicknamed "King George". ''[[90min]]'' included him in their list of the 50 greatest players of all time.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 May 2019 |title=The 50 greatest footballers of all time |publisher=90min |url=https://www.90min.com/posts/50-greatest-footballers-all-time-ranked |access-date=26 April 2023}}</ref> Weah is often hailed as one of the greatest African footballers of all time,<ref name="Murray"/><ref name="journey">{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2018/01/23/from-football-king-to-liberian-president-george-weahs-journey_a_23340918/ |title=From Football King To Liberian President – George Weah's Journey |work=HuffPost |first=Nkosinathi |last=Shazi |date=23 January 2018 |access-date=3 October 2018 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116174121/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2018/01/23/from-football-king-to-liberian-president-george-weahs-journey_a_23340918/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> being named African Player of the Century in 1996,<ref name="Africa – Player of the Century"/> and often ranked among the three greatest African strikers ever, alongside [[Didier Drogba]] and [[Samuel Eto'o]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Top 10 Greatest African Strikers |url=http://www.joburgpost.co.za/2017/06/06/top-10-greatest-african-strikers/ |access-date=27 August 2018 |work=Johannesburg Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220025546/http://www.joburgpost.co.za/2017/06/06/top-10-greatest-african-strikers/ |archive-date=20 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Where Didier Drogba Ranks Alongside Africa's 20 Best Strikers |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1973969-where-didier-drogba-ranks-alongside-africas-20-best-strikers#slide16 |access-date=27 August 2018 |work=Bleacher Report}}</ref> In 2013, Milan great [[Franco Baresi]] named Weah in the greatest XI he has ever played with.<ref>[http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/21564/8990658/italian-franco-baresi-picks-one2eleven-on-the-fantasy-football-club "Italian Franco Baresi picks One2Eleven on the Fantasy Football Club"]. Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 January 2015</ref> ''[[FourFourTwo]]'' magazine named Weah one of the best players never to win the [[UEFA Champions League]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 25 best players never to win the Champions League. #19 Weah |website=FourFourTwo |url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/gallery/20-best-players-never-win-champions-league |url-status=deviated |access-date=28 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108210928/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/gallery/20-best-players-never-win-champions-league |archive-date=8 November 2018}}</ref> A number of publications, including Scott Murray of ''The Guardian'' and Kevin Baxter of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', in addition to FIFA, consider him to be one of the greatest players never to feature at the World Cup.<ref name="LA Times"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Weah: Ballon d'Or put me and Liberia on the map |url=https://www.fifa.com/fifaeworldcup/news/y=2015/m=12/news=weah-ballon-d-or-put-me-and-liberia-on-the-map-2747827.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623005101/https://www.fifa.com/fifaeworldcup/news/y=2015/m=12/news=weah-ballon-d-or-put-me-and-liberia-on-the-map-2747827.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 June 2018 |publisher=FIFA |date=22 June 2018 |quote=Whenever football fans name the best players never to have played at the World Cup finals, Weah is one of the first to be mentioned.}}</ref><ref name="Murray"/>

The status of Weah in the sport saw him feature in EA Sports' [[FIFA (video game series)|''FIFA'' video game series]] where he was named in the Ultimate Team Legends in ''[[FIFA 14]]''.<ref>[https://www.easports.com/fifa/news/2013/fifa-14-at-gamescom "FIFA 14 Ultimate Team Legends"]. EA Sports. Retrieved 6 February 2015</ref> During his playing career Weah was sponsored by sportswear company [[Diadora]], and he became famous for his red Diadora boots while playing for AC Milan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2000/05/05/diadora-veste-il-napoli-tifosi-sognano-weah.html?refresh_ce |title=Diadora veste il Napoli i tifosi sognano Weah |work=La Republica |language=it |date=24 June 2018}}</ref>