00:00In the late 80s, French football wasn't quite global and African players were rarely celebrated
00:09around the world. But then came George Weyer. In 1988, Weyer played for Tonnerre Yaoundé,
00:15tearing up defences in Cameroon. But one man saw what others missed. Arsene Benger,
00:20manager of AIS Monaco at the time. At 22, Weyer arrived in the principality,
00:25tall, fast and unpredictable, scoring 14 league goals in his first season.
00:29Between 1988 and 92, he scored 47 league goals for Monaco and helped take them to the 92 European Cup
00:36winner's final. And then came Paris. In 1992, he joined PSG just as the club was on the rise.
00:43In 1993-94, he helped win the Ligue 1 title and a year later, he was the Champions League top scorer
00:49with seven goals, producing an iconic finish against Bayern Munich. And by 1995, Europe could not take
00:56their eyes off him. Until then, the Ballon d'Or was only open to Europeans. But that December,
01:02the rules changed and George Weyer was awarded the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first and still only
01:07African player to win football's highest individual honour. It wasn't just a trophy. It was a statement.
01:13A Liberian striker from a country with no World Cup pedigree had become the best player on earth.
01:19After Weyer, clubs began actively scouting West Africa. Without him, we might never have seen stars
01:26or Sadio Mane rise the way they did. But despite World of Fame, he never forgot where he came from.
01:33Liberia has only ever qualified for the African Cup of Nations twice, in 1996 and 2002. And Weyer led
01:41them both times, scoring their opening goal against Mali in 2002 to earn his country a rare point on the
01:47continental stage. In 2000, he returned to France for a final spell with a struggling Marseille side.
01:52He scored five goals in 19 games, which helped save them from relegation and left a lasting mark with his calm leadership in the changing room.
01:59But Weyer's story didn't end in football. After retiring, he returned to Liberia, a country scarred by civil war and entered politics.
02:07In 2017, Weyer was elected president and became the only Ballon d'Or winner to become a head of state.
02:13Even as president, football never left him. In 2018, at 51, he played one final match for Liberia in the friendly against Nigeria,
02:20with his iconic number 14 retired as the stadium rose to its feet.
02:24Today, George Weyer's remembered as much for what he symbolized as what he won.
02:28A global icon, a bridge between Africa and Europe, and a legacy that changed football forever.
02:34A global icon ofrotting.
02:39We looked at this last time.
02:42Now, we went to the square of the state in Spain and were British to the Broken Forest on the top of Japan.
02:46Here, we went to the square of the river by 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4 these regions were usual.
02:51We saw a gate at 6, 5, 7, 6, 6, 7, 8 years to theEN and tied in the country.
02:56We saw a gate at 7, 7, 7 years, 7, 8 years ahead of the city.
02:59That's right.
03:00The square of the government, 1, 32, 4, 5 years to the Parce, 8.
03:019, 17, 7,7-9, 11, 11.
03:0230, 11, 12, 25, 6, 6, 9, 7, 8.
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