King George

Number 97 of our top 100 greatest football players of all time is the great George Weah!

Join us as we detail possibly the biggest rags to riches story as George Weah goes from poverty, to becoming the best player in the world, then president of his home country Liberia.

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Music written by Matt & Gilbert Spencer-Smith

Transcript

HofP E5
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Dan: [00:00:00] Hello Welcome back to the hand of pod Today i'm joined by by musical maestro, mr. Matt smith no rich or or torben, with us today, but Well, this is this is the first one you've done since the episode one Yeah, 

Matt: just because i'm calling them part timers In fact, I believe That was exactly your approach to us to be part time.

Yeah. Yeah, 

Dan: definitely. It's good to finally get you on. If you didn't know Matt was actually responsible for the theme tune that you would have just heard together with together with your son, Gilbert. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Dan: Co co writer. I don't know how you How you shared the responsibility of making that. 

Matt: It was, it was, it was very much 50 50.

Dan: But today we are talking about George Weyer, number 97. I've forgotten which number [00:01:00] we got to. 97. 

Matt: I thought you said 90. 

Dan: 97. Yeah, number 97. In the top 100 list.

I was going to be talking about centre backs and we've decided not to kind of go on the same format we were going kind of fully into. Like a long list of best centerbacks full time Because it seemed to be a bit of a crossover into what we're doing on the top 100 and a bit bit samey so we're kind of gonna Streamline it a bit and go straight into the just a [00:02:00] deeper dive onto the the top 100 players but I did I did do some research on some centre backs, and there was one centre back that I just wanted to share about, that I hadn't really heard of before.

Matt: Have you, have you checked that he's not in the top 100? He's not. And you're not going to talk about it? No, 

Dan: I'm not, I'm not going to go through his whole career. But Giantano And it's quite a hard name to say, and I had to actually Google how to say his name. Gentano Scirea, who's an Italian player and won the World Cup with Italy in 1982.

And because I watched a clip of him and he was A fantastic centre back and he was, the clip I watched, he was just such an amazingly kind of balanced and beautiful player to watch on the ball and play the game that I just kind of wanted to share a clip. So this is yeah, Gentano Sierra. I think this is all at the 1982 World Cup.

Is this all him? This is all him, so it's all just highlights of [00:03:00] him. So he played number seven for Italy as a centre back. 

Matt: It's quite small. 

Dan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He wasn't massive, but he looks, he looks like a very modern center back where he's kind of quite a ball playing center back. Not the, the, what you associate with a kind of Italian center back from the eighties.

I'm going to, I'm going to rewind that Tardelli, Marco Tardelli. So there was yeah, Giantano Scirea just actually assisted that goal, laid it off to Tardelli for that kind of very, very famous celebration at the 1982 World Cup. So yeah, I thought I'd share that, that clip with you. I just find it quite, quite interesting.

And, and the whole, the whole kind of ball playing centre back thing. I mean, probably the, the centre back that, The influence me the most growing up was, was Rio Ferdinand and his whole thing was stay on your feet and you see so many, like when I'm [00:04:00] watching football today, I see so many centre backs. And defenders just diving in, especially at United now, you see players like Van Bersacka who's just constantly just flinging himself around.

And and, and then we end up in, in all sorts of bother because of it. And it was this kind of stay on your feet and, and keep the ball and keep that control of a centre back and being so aware of, of the space around you. And, and, and kind of all the great centre backs I was looking at throughout history were this.

We're in so much control of themselves and the game. That was, that's what I've always associated with being a good center back and always quite surprised to see how many modern day center backs just kind of throwing themselves around the place. And you think by now they would have realized and, and been, and been coached not to do that by, by former players like Rio Ferdinand,

the man we're here to talk about. Number 97 100 [00:05:00] best players of all time is the president of Liberia himself. Ex. Ex, ex president of Liberia. So is it, when did he step down recently? January. January, yes, very recently. Known, known to many in his playing days as simply King George is yeah, Mr. George Weah.

And he's known as. Liberia's greatest ever footballer, and one of the greatest, if not the greatest, African footballer of all time. He's the only African to ever win the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or, both in 1995. He's, he was named African Football of the Year twice with another time in 1996.

He was named African Player of the Century. He was known for his speed, dribbling and goal scoring. One of the greatest strikers of the nineties, he started his out in Liberia to kind of a very, very poor upbringing and play for a few kind of local teams in [00:06:00] Liberia and then ended up winning the Liberian Premier League as the league's top goal scorer.

He was named as the league's player of the season. And All at the same time as working as a switchboard operator Because obviously the liberian premier league wasn't bringing the the riches to to keep him. I mean i'm 

Matt: surprised there wasn't yeah Yeah at the time when there's civil war. Yes. 

Dan: I mean, it's it's probably very much like a The sunday league type thing we see today But yeah, then he signed for a Cameroonian Club, tanera Yadi in 1987.

And it was actually the Cameroon national manager who'd seen him play in the Cameroon League, who recommended to to a friend of his a a certain Mr. Arsene Wenger, who was Monaco manager. At the time ended up signing for Monaco in 1988 for 12, 000 pounds at the age of 22 [00:07:00] so I think Wenger was taking a bit of a bit of a punt on a on a recommendation 

Matt: A 12 12 gram punt and just it's not much of a not much.

Yeah. Yeah. 

Dan: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, right as well Get him over. And yeah, I was actually, I don't know if you've listened to the quickly Kevin episode with Glenn Hoddle, which has come out recently. And he, he actually talks about George Weah arriving at Monaco in 1988. Cause he was there with, with fellow Englishman, Mark Haitley.

And he said George way apparently turned up in his like African robes and sandals holding a bag with, with a really, really old pair of boots in. And no one kind of knew anything about him. And then he just started training and apparently it was just incredible just from the off. I heard an interview with Arsene Wenger saying how he was, it was quite kind of out of shape when he, when he turned up, but his transformation of, of how he went into this like physical specimen was so fast and [00:08:00] became this, this kind of incredible athlete as well as goal scorer pretty quickly for for them.

One of the, coupe de France with, with Monaco. And they got to the 1992 Cup Winners Cup final against Werder Bremen, which I was, I was having a little, little look at that match. And they, they were favorites going into this match, which was in Portugal. And there was only. 16, 000 people in the stadium and it was a 100, 000 seater stadium or over 100, 000 seater stadium at the time and it's known as the most poorly attended European like European cup final of, of all time in terms of like percentage and, and total attendance, which is a bit strange, but I suppose Monaco don't actually have Like a huge, huge amount of fans.

Like, I think they're, or 

Matt: a huge, or, or a massive population. , massive 

Dan: population. I think their average attendances are about 6,000. [00:09:00] So, so yeah, they went on to, but they, they reckon that was some, some reason why they didn't perform in that final, because it was so, such a strange kind of dead atmosphere. And and they lost to Werder, Breman toil.

But that team he was in at Monaco I know Ho and Hateley were there when he started, but that 1992 team, he had Emmanuel Petite. I have Lillian Turam and that team that Arsene was putting together. I 

Matt: can't, I can't imagine many players that Arsene signed were at the level of fitness that he, he expected.

Dan: No, no, especially early nineties. He was kind of changing the game right then, wasn't he? Bringing, bringing that fitness into the game, which you do with Arsenal. Yeah, then he signed in after that season he signed for PSG for 6. 5 million. So not a bad bit of bit of profit from the 12 grand.

Matt: Good tax, tax free profit. Yes. 

Dan: Yeah. [00:10:00] Yeah. Had a really good spell with, with PSG. He was top goal scorer. in the 94, 95 Champions League. And he scored a wonder goal against against Bayern Munich in the group stage, which got him a lot of press and, and potentially that season in the Champions League led to him being signed for AC Milan in in 1995.

I mean, he, he goes into a a great, one of the great AC Milan teams at that point and was competing for a place up front with certain Roberto Baggio. 

Matt: How much did they pay for him? 

Dan: 6. 9 million. That's pretty much what they paid for 

Matt: him. That's mad. 

Dan: Yeah. Yeah, 6. 9 million after signing with 6. 5. 

Matt: Why did they sell him?

Yeah, I don't know. 

Dan: I 

Matt: dunno, pre presumably he was under, he was, he'd only been there for a year, so no, 

Dan: three years. So 92 to nine five was Oh, was a, so maybe, maybe he was running out of his contract. He only had a year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he goes to, to [00:11:00] Milan to play under Fabio Capello. And he was, and he must be, what, late twenties now?

Yeah, so he was 22 in 98, so, so, yeah. Yeah. Late twenties. So yeah, probably about 28, 29 when he signed for them. He was their top goalscorer in his first league. first season with with AC Milan in, in Syria, kind of became known for scoring great goals at Milan rather than the, the amount of goals he scored.

He wasn't scoring left, right and center, but he, he, he was especially known for a certain goal, which I remember. And I don't know if you remember Matt, it was against Hellas Verona. Which was known as the coast to coast goal, where he he picked up the, the ball from a from a Verona corner on the edge of his own box and, and skipped through pretty much the entire Verona team to take it down the other end and score.

I remember watching that on Gazzetta Football Italia on a on a Sunday morning. 

Matt: Yeah, and it is the [00:12:00] one, it's the one goal that you remember from George Mayer, but I watched it back, I watched it yesterday, along with like a highlight reel of all of his goals. I would argue it's not his greatest goal.

Dan: Yeah, I know what you mean. For a start, 

Matt: for a start, hardly anyone challenges him. They're like, and it was in the 88th minute, they were already 3 1 up. Like, so Verona, like, the players are dead on their feet. He stumbles through two players and like, luckily gets them. And then no one else challenges him.

But then, like, he's got many other goals to accomplish. That are actually more skillful and better shots or better dribbles actually taking it past people that are trying to tackle him But I kind of disappointed me because you you hope when a goal happens When I get when a girl's got its 

Dan: own name as well 

Matt: Yeah, but you hope that a goal That is, is judged by the [00:13:00] circumstances under which it was scored.

And people always talk about, oh, this, this goal will be remembered because of the context of which it was scored. Yeah, definitely. But that George Ware goal, there was no, it wasn't a last minute winner. It wasn't against a team that, like, but that's the goal we remember. I'm sure 

Dan: Probably, 

Matt: but so, so many better goals in his highlights.

It's 

Dan: very strange because, because every other goal, like a legendary player is known for a certain goal. It's, it's usually because of the situation as well. Like you say, like the Van Basten known for scoring in the 1988 final Maradona goal in the 86 World Cup. And it's all the situation. Like if you look through each of their highlights, they.

Potentially scored better goals in their careers that you don't know, but they're known for [00:14:00] that goal because of the situation. Whereas it's the opposite for George Weah, where he scored better goals, but he's known for this goal for some 

Matt: reason. I suppose there aren't many goals where someone's dribbled it from one area to the other.

From 

Dan: one end to the other, yeah. 

Matt: But, it's just that, actually, he doesn't have to do much with it other than run with it. 

Dan: Oh yeah, but pretty much from, from the, from his box, the halfway line, is just empty space. Yeah. He just walks forward. Yeah. Yeah, that's, it is quite funny. But yeah, there's so many good goals 

Matt: he's scored.

So many good goals. So many 

Dan: good goals. Yeah. 

Matt: Like great headers headed goals. Yeah. 

Dan: Yeah. Yeah. Great headed goals. But yeah, there's there's there's a ton I mean even even for PSG and Monaco, I saw highlights of the goals he scored for them and and like I said, he didn't score like silly amount of goals, but so many great goals he did score and he was, he was coming wide.

He was, he was one of the, the kind of early adopters of that [00:15:00] striker that would, would come out, drift out wide or drop back in to get the ball and make the run. Whereas previously the traditional kind of number nine would just stay up front and, and wait for the ball over the top or. Or, or into feet rather than coming back to get it, which, which then we saw a lot more with, with people like Ronaldo, 

Matt: the thing that, the thing that struck me, I'm watching highlights of him is just.

Just how strong he is, he was on the ball. And so many shots where it's just like the strength, the strength behind the shot, the strengths behind the header, the strength of how he controlled the ball and, you know, people just could not get it off him because he was so strong on the ball. 

Dan: Yeah. It was incredible.

Yeah. That year. He won the Ballon d'Or in, in 95 with Milan. It's his first season [00:16:00] with Milan and basically becomes the best player in the world after his first season with Milan. I think that's probably why that goal is so famous as well, because he won. The Ballon d'Or that year and he scored that goal and it was just here's, here's this goal and this guy, this is why this guy is the best player in the world at the moment because he could, he could run with the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and it just became so famous.

But he, he actually dedicated his, his Ballon d'Or to Arsene Wenger. Yeah. Yeah. So he, and on stage, when he collected it, he called, he called Venger up onto the stage. He said, I, this is, I've won this because of this man who he said it was like a father figure to him. And he said, he, he he taught me that it was possible that I could do this and I could be this great and, and show me how to do it.

And he's kind of, he's like the Almost typifies the Rags to Riches football story. You couldn't, he [00:17:00] couldn't come from a more obscure place and background to be a footballer. Like, we've never heard of any other footballer from Liberia. I mean, at that point, you probably never heard of any other footballer from Africa, really.

And the fact he came from from nothing, from, from poverty and, and, and came to Europe. And, and, and then seven years later was, was the best player in the world winning the, winning the. 

Matt: He did the same when he got when he got elected president. Called Arsene Wenger up on stage. Did he? Oh, right. 

Dan: No.

I was going to say, that's mental.

Oh, dear. But yeah, the fact, the fact he then becomes president, it's almost another level. It's like you, you came from nothing to become a footballer and become the greatest player in the world to then become president of your own country. It's just insane. But he. I mean, before, before that, he actually ended up going to going to [00:18:00] Chelsea where he, he didn't have the, the, the best career part of his career in, in England, but he's, he scored against Spurs on his debut for Chelsea and and won the FA Cup with them.

Then he had a short spell at Man City went back to France with Marseille and ended his career at Al Jazeera. And he had 75 caps for Liberia, but unfortunately was never able to take them to the world cup. He, he played in a couple of African Cup of Nations with him, but he was always very much championing his like playing for his country, playing for Liberia and was, was desperate to make them good.

And he actually played his final match for Liberia in 2018 at the age of 51. Did he while in office as president? He came he came out of retirement to play in a friendly against Nigeria and after the game his number 14 shirt was was retired [00:19:00] for liberia 

Matt: Right. Did you know I read that he when he was properly playing for liberia he financed the team himself and he managed the team himself 

Dan: Yeah, so the team 

Matt: wouldn't even exist They came really close to qualifying for the World Cup one year as well.

Dan: Yeah, yeah, it was a real shame. He's one of those players, like, greatest ever players never to play in the World Cup. 

Matt: I think he'd be higher up on the top 100 list if he had if he had some World Cup highlights reels. Yeah. If he'd have scored a couple of important World Cup goals. I think he'd be much higher up on the list.

Dan: Yeah, I think you're right. I think there's definitely players that are up, up on the list because they're, because of what they did at World Cups, because they're known for, for certain performances at World Cups. And it kind of, even just playing in a World Cup is, [00:20:00] is kind of on this, on a player's CV. Yes, you might be saying that about Erling Haaland in in the future.

Yes, I mean, Henri, I actually heard Henri talk about George Weah. Yeah. As one of his idols, another man who went through the Monaco system. 

Matt: We must've been in the, like the youth team or something when, where it was there, right? 

Dan: Yeah. Potentially, I mean, left in 92. So he would have been Would have been very young but yeah, it was that like I was saying it was that kind of coming out drifting out wide the The way I did that strike number nines didn't do before the honoree was talking about I heard him in an interview recently So naming where is one of the players who started doing this type of?

Movement that then on rebrought to his game and kind of became known for that that loads of strikers do now Then obviously after his career, he became a politician. 

Matt: I [00:21:00] thought I would research into his political career as I knew you'd be researching all of his football career. Yeah. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Matt: But yeah, he first ran for president in 2005 after the country came out of civil war a couple of years earlier and where he'd been He was an ambassador UNICEF ambassador right for the country where he'd been living in New York And he kind of moved back to the country when the Civil War ended in 2003 ran for president in 2005 for the Congress of Democratic Change Party And he got defeated in the runoff but then he challenged the result and took it to court, claiming that it claiming and actually then dropped the case once it had gone to court.

Right. So he lost the first election he went for and in 2011, he ran as vice president and his, the president he was running vice for withdrew from the race on the, in the second round, complaining about irregularities in the first round. So, [00:22:00] He didn't win his second one in 2014. He ran for Senator of Monserrado County and he won.

So he got into Parliament. As a senator, right? And then in 2017, his party merged with two other parties before the 2018 election to have a better chance of, of winning against the standing party. So they became the coalition for democratic change. Okay, in which way I became the leader of the party and ran for president.

He won the first round, it went to a runoff. And then The election was indefinitely postponed as the Electoral Commission had to investigate claims of fraud and incompetence by the candidate who came third place in the first round. So the runoffs, so they always have a first round and they have a runoff between the top two.

The runoff was indefinitely postponed while they had to investigate this so [00:23:00] whilst he'd won the first round he still hadn't won the election They the one of the claims was that the current president had interfered with the process Who was the current president who was standing down had interfered with the process to weighers benefit?

Music: Yeah, 

Matt: the appeal was eventually dismissed and the runoff was held which way One quite massively and was inaugurated as president in January the 2018, which was the first transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents in Liberia since 1944. So then he stood As president for the next term, so for four years, he built quite a lot of healthcare facilities, paved a lot of the country's roads.

Had quite a lot of policies to improve education and economics and then COVID hit in the middle of his presidency. And so his economic plans were kind of [00:24:00] diced. And whilst there has been some economic growth in the three years since. COVID it was nothing to the level that he had, that he had hoped then, then he ran in the 23 election.

He lost the first round, but he became second. He went in the runoff and he lost the runoff by 50. 64 percent to 49. 36 percent of the votes. And he stepped down as president in January 24th. 

Dan: Wow. I'm surprised. I'm surprised he lost. I thought it was really, really popular. 

Matt: But I, I mean, I imagine he'll, I'm sure he'll be running again at some point.

It seems that he'll I would think so. Yeah. I think he's still the leader of his party. 

Dan: Right. So he could be could be president again. 

Matt: Yeah. But he's always throughout his career, took an [00:25:00] interest in trying to improve the lives of people in his country, which is great. You know, it got a quite high rate of poverty and you know from which he Came from so he's got the the george weir foundation which is a charity set up to to help children in poverty in his in in his country.

And yeah, so it's very Important to him. So i'm yeah, i'm sure he'll run again. 

Dan: Yes Yeah, I mean he's it just sounds like he's an incredible Person and incredible football player as well as as well as person and and just his life is just insane There's not many People when you're looking at what they've done in their life that you you would have so many different things to look at like that Yeah, 

Matt: I would hope that he would come 97 in the top 100 democratically elected leaders of all time, just to marry it up.

That's 

Dan: another podcast. [00:26:00] That's 

Matt: another podcast. We'll be running through the hundred greatest democratic leaders. Yeah, his 

Dan: I don't know if you've heard of his son. Timothy? 

Matt: George Ware Jr.? No, 

Dan: Timothy Ware, who plays for America. Oh 

Matt: yes! Yes, of course. Yeah, played in the last World Cup. Yeah, 

Dan: played in the last World Cup.

Yeah, so he plays for the USA. And yeah, there was a really nice clip of George Ware at the World Cup. In the tunnel after the game when they came off and and embracing Timothy as he, as he comes off the pitch. 

Matt: Yeah, nice. 

Dan: So yeah, there was, there has been a Weah at a World Cup, but just not George. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That brings us to a close of the, the legend of of Mr. George Weah. So I hope you 

Matt: Still Still to be, still to be written. 

Dan: Still to be written. Yeah. Yeah. We'll, we'll, if you make it's president again, we'll do another episode all about him.

Matt: We'll [00:27:00] do a live stream of the runoff. 

Dan: And the inauguration. Where Wenger will be vice president. Yes. Well, isn't he at FIFA now, Wenger? 

Matt: He's a more a more corrupt organization than the Liberia government has ever been. Yes 

Dan: But he's he's responsible for trying to change the formats of world cups, isn't he?

Wenger wanted to bring out like annual world cups and They're adding more and more teams. So you never know Wenger might be responsible for for helping Liberia eventually qualify for a world cup 

Matt: He's got an agreement with George. Yeah

Dan: Great. Well, Matt, thanks for joining me and talking about George Ware today. 

Matt: Yeah, it was fun. 

Dan: And I'll be back next week with number 96 Javier Zanetti, the Argentine and Inter Milan legend, Inter Milan having [00:28:00] just won Serie A. So seems fitting to talk about one of their greatest ever players in in Javier Zanetti.

But yeah, thanks for joining and I shall see you next time.