Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Where Eagles dare! Discuss Nigerian related football (soccer) topics here.

Moderators: Moderator Team, phpBB2 - Administrators

Post Reply
camex
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 37640
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:09 pm
Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by camex »

http://allafrica.com/stories/201801200115.html
Liberia/Cameroon: Remembering George Weah's Early Football Days

By Moki Kindzeka (Yaounde)
Cameroon was Weah's stepping stone on his way to becoming a top football player in Europe. Many of his former team mates have fond memories of Liberia's president-elect. DW's Moki Kindzeka spoke with some of them.

Former Cameroonian national coach Jean Paul Akono still vividly remembers the day George Weah's extraordinary talent as a football player was discovered by his fellow countrymen.



"It was during a match that the Tonnerre Kalara football club of Yaounde played in Liberia that my late predecessor and friend Bendongo Paul Gaston spotted George Weah," Akono told DW.

"His prowess helped his Liberian side defeat Tonnerre."

During the match, Weah scored two goals for his Liberian club Invincible Eleven. After the game, Tonnerre's president Pierre Semengue called for negotiations with Weah to get him to join his team.

By then, Weah could already look back at a successful football career in his native Liberia. He had played for the country's two top clubs: Mighty Barolle and Invincible Eleven. In 1987, Weah was the Liberian football league's top scorer and chosen as the best player of the season.

In Cameroon, he also quickly lived up to expectations.

"When he arrived, the first match he played was against Canon. He scored two goals, Semengue remembered.


But outside the football field, life wasn't easy for Weah. Semengue recounts that he spent several months in a one-bedroom apartment with some of his team mates.

"The house was called 'The boy's quarter'. Before he moved there, he was hosted by my wife, together with other players," Semengue told DW.

Weah's most outstanding performance in Cameroon was when he lead his team to win the 1988 Challenge Cup. Cameroon's president Paul Biya was in the audience at the time.

'I shouted with joy'

Weah's talents did not go unnoticed, even outside the country. Claude Leroy, then coach of Cameroon's national team, introduced Weah to officials from the French club, AS Monaco. After six months in Cameroon, Weah joined AS Monaco in 1988. Despite some language problems in the beginning, he quickly became the club's top scorer.



In 1989, the readers of French football magazine "France Football" selected him as "African football player of the year." In 1994, the magazine awarded the title again. The African football federation also chose him as African player of the year in 1995.

From Monaco, Weah went on to play for some of the best clubs in Europe, including Paris Saint Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Despite his brief stint in Cameroon, many of Weah's former team mates are still closely following his career and will be watching his inauguration.

"I shouted with joy when it was announced that he had won the presidential elections in Liberia," former team-mate Dieudonne Nke told DW.

"It is not every day that you have a team mate that finds himself in the highest position of a country."
User avatar
1naija
Flying Eagle
Flying Eagle
Posts: 57465
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2004 5:04 pm
Re: Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by 1naija »

Chei, life as a DNQ no easy o. I wont be surprised if thiefco and rawlinks are locked up in a room somewhere watching tapes of Abedi Pele in 1982 and high fiving each other.

Chai....this WC go sweet o.
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not be in want.
User avatar
Mzekezeke
Egg
Egg
Posts: 2187
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 4:14 pm
Re: Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by Mzekezeke »

1naija wrote:Chei, life as a DNQ no easy o. I wont be surprised if thiefco and rawlinks are locked up in a room somewhere watching tapes of Abedi Pele in 1982 and high fiving each other.

Chai....this WC go sweet o.
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
Patrick Ntsoelengo,Nelson Dladla,Petros Nzimande, Abednigo Ngcobo,Doctor Khumalo,Vusi Lamola,Gerald Dlamini,Simom Lehoko,Silvester Kole,Lucas Radebe,Jan Lichaba, Leonard Likoebe,Edson Mguyo, Arie Khongoane,Marks Maponyanye,Donald Khuse, Jabu Pule, Mark Tovey, Zebulon Nhlapo,Gabriel Tikkie Khoza,Moran Khulu,Michael Dlamini,Johannes Mofokeng, Wellinton Manyathi,Jingles Perreira....... to be continued....Amhakhosi Kaizer Chiefs!!!!!!!
nemi2002
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 13831
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:51 pm
Re: Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by nemi2002 »

Chai....
User avatar
1naija
Flying Eagle
Flying Eagle
Posts: 57465
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2004 5:04 pm
Re: Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by 1naija »

Thiefco. Haw Abedi scored?
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not be in want.
camex
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 37640
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:09 pm
Re: Liberia/Cameroon:Remembering Weah's Early Football Days

Post by camex »

I remember when Weah arrived in Yaounde. Cameroon had just won the ANC championship and Wenger had sent a scout to recruit Tataw Stepen a defender for the Lions. When the scout arrived in Yaounde, he was told by Leroy, the national coach at the time, that a better option would be to buy Weah.

Post Reply