was hugely significant. The Liberian called it
“mission accomplished... I’d proved African
players could do it at the highest level”.
Serie A was the world’s best league and
Weah had tamed it. He was dictating games;
winning games. Milan scooped the 1995-96
Scudetto, leading uninterrupted from the first
week to the last as Weah ended his debut
campaign with 11 goals and 14 assists in 26
league appearances. In a 4-0 thumping of
Vicenza he was responsible for all four goals,
scoring none. No wonder Thierry Henry, he
of the joint-most assists in a single Premier
League season, identified Weah as one of his
three inspirations, alongside Romario and
Ronaldo. Henry said these talismen could
“pick the ball up anywhere and score”, which
is why the aforementioned late clincher at
Lazio – and you can watch the whole match
online with commentary from the legendary
Peter Brackley – encapsulated the George
Weah that exists in our mind’s eye.
Receiving a pass far closer to the halfway
line than the Lazio 18-yard-box behind him,
Weah escaped a desperate hack on the turn
and saw Cristiano Bergodi and Alessandro
Nesta in his way. He simply flicked the ball
between them, ran after it and, with his next
touch, punted past keeper Francesco Mancini
with insulting insouciance. Game over.
A marriage of confidence and composure
bore glorious offspring: it made Weah great,
and great fun to watch. You didn’t do that to
1990s Italian defences. If the score was 0-0
after 87 minutes in a clash between first and
third, that’s because it was meant to finish
0-0. Good job, everybody, a decent point for
us both. Hang on, who’s this guy? What’s he
doing? How dare he?HELLO, MR PRESIDENT
Weah didn’t play many Champions League
matches for Milan. In November 1996, the
reigning World and European Player of the
Year received a six-match suspension for
headbutting Porto defender Jorge Costa in
the tunnel after full-time, breaking his nose.
Costa had accidentally-on-purpose stood
on Weah’s hand in their previous meeting,
necessitating 16 stitches, and then made
a staggeringly high tackle this night. Weah
said the defender had also made repeated
racist remarks, but had no witnesses. Costacharges topped Serie A with 17 points and
13 goals. Weah had scored or assisted 10 of
them. Matchday two: a left-footed cross on
the turn against Udinese for Baggio to bag
the winner. Matchday three: two fine goals
that transformed defeat into victory away at
Roma. Matchday four: two unselfish assists
in beating Atalanta 3-0. And then, with the
Rossoneri facing reigning champions Juve at
a raucous San Siro while someone dressed
as the devil sprayed the dugouts purple (no,
us neither), Weah won a free-kick by juggling
a bouncing ball beyond the reach of five
opponents, and Marco Simone converted it.
The two soon combined again for 2-0, Weah
brushing off Pietro Vierchowod – named by
Gary Lineker as the hardest defender he ever
faced – and tucking the ball smartly past
Angelo Peruzzi. Milan won 2-1.
It continued. A late winner at title-chasing
Lazio here, a smart assist for an equaliser in
the Milan derby there... when the Rossoneri
needed a goal, Weah found it. On December
23, 1995, the striker had a hand in both goals
as Milan drew 2-2 with Fiorentina, who were
second. The next day, he won the Ballon d’Or.
That award was commonly known as the
European Footballer of the Year, and with
good reason: non-European players weren’t
eligible. That all changed in 1995. Weah was
one of six African nominees among the 50
players shortlisted, ranging from Finidi George
of Champions League-winning Ajax to Japhet
N’Doram, Nantes’ Chadian striker, and his winWeah scooped the 1995 Ballon d’Or
by a relatively comfortable margin,
beating Jurgen Klinsmann to top
spot with 144 points to the Bayern
Munich striker’s 108.
Third was Ajax’s Champions League
winner Jari Litmanen on 67, 10 ahead
of Alessandro Del Piero. And trailing in
joint-32nd, alongside Ian Wright with
one point? Alan Shearer, scorer of 37
goals in all competitions as Blackburn
won the 1994-95 Premier League title,
and another 20 before the year was up.
If ever there was a sign of how the
Ballon d’Or has shifted in the modern
era, this was it. Rovers’ main man had
fired the Lancastrians to a surprise title
victory and liberally bludgeoned goals
throughout the year, yet was basically
a nobody beyond Britain’s borders.
Back in a pre-internet 1995, European
and international exploits were vital.Suddenly, Shearer flew up to third in
1996 on 107 points, behind Ronaldo
and Matthias Sammer. Blackburn had
tried to defend their title but finished
seventh, while England were knocked
out of Euro 96 in the semi-finals... but
crucially, their leading marksman had
bagged the Golden Boot and secured
a world-record transfer to Newcastle.
Evidently, it’s quite helpful when folks
know your name...GOALS: OVERRATED, MATE
Left and below
“Catch me if you
can!”; Weah and
Baggio proved
a potent strike
duo at San Siro50 June 2022 FourFourTwo
GEORGE
WEAH