George Weah Jr. (born August 27, 1987) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who most recently played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...

. He is the son of former

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

winner and president of Liberia

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

. Born in Liberia, he was capped for the

United States men's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. The United States' b ...

but has no international caps at senior level.

Early life

Weah is the son of the former

winner and current Liberian president

and Jamaican-born wife Clar Weah. He was born in Liberia but raised in the United States. He was one of three Weah children to show an aptitude and interest in

at a young age. While his sister Tita chose to return to school studies, both he and his brother Tim pursued professional careers.

Club career

Weah began his career in the youth team of

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

at the age of 14 but was released in 2007 after long series of injuries shortly prior to turning 20. In October of that year, he joined

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

on trial, but he was not offered a contract. Coach

Karel Jarolím Karel Jarolím (born 23 August 1956) is a Czech football coach and former Czechoslovakia international footballer. As a player, he played as a midfielder and made 275 appearances in the Czechoslovak First League. Career Jarolím was the coach o ...

explained that the team were looking for a "different type of player" than Weah. Weah briefly played for CS Romontois in Switzerland before moving within the country to

Wohlen Wohlen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History The earliest known settlements in Wohlen date from the late Hallstatt era (600-500 BC). This settlement left two clusters of burial moun ...

. In 2011, Weah joined

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

. On February 3, 2012, Weah joined Bulgarian club Kaliakra Kavarna on a one-and-a-half-year deal after a successful trial. On May 17, 2014, Weah made his debut for

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

's reserve team in the

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute in 2–0 defeat to Lens II. He went on to play two games in total for the PSG reserve side.

International career

When he was active, Weah was eligible to represent both the United States and Liberia. He played in two friendlies for the United States under-20 side in 2004. More than a decade later, he was called up by the

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n senior side for a

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champion ...

match against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

in June 2015, despite not having played for a club in nearly a year. He was named to the bench as Liberia lost 2–1.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weah, George Jr. 1987 births Living people Liberian footballers American soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Liberian people of Jamaican descent American people of Liberian descent American people of Jamaican descent A.C. Milan players FC Wohlen players FC Baden players FC Wangen bei Olten players PFC Kaliakra Kavarna players FC Lausanne-Sport players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Tours FC players FC La Chaux-de-Fonds players Swiss Super League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Association football midfielders Sportspeople from Monrovia Children of national leaders Weah family