Liberia president and former Ballon d'Or winner George Weah plays international friendly

Liberia's President George Weah
Liberia's President George Weah Reuters

One of the greats of modern football and the best player from Africa, George Weah inspired millions of footballers around the world with his athleticism and work-rate. Following a successful footballing career, Weah dipped his toes in the world of politics and became the President of Liberia earlier this year.

But Weah put his presidential duties on hold for a night when he laced up his football boots once more, as he came out of retirement for one final match, against Nigeria. Against a strong Nigerian side, the 51-year-old played 79 minutes, but could not help his team defeat the Nigerians, losing the match 2-1.

The match was to mark the retiring of Weah's iconic No. 14 jersey, a number which was also worn by French striker Thierry Henry, who idolised the talismanic Liberian striker.

James Debbah, the manager of the Liberian national team and a former teammate of Weah, also came out of retirement in the match, at 48 years of age.

Meanwhile, his 18-year-old son, Timothy Weah, who is touted for great things in the future, started for the United States national team, in a friendly against Mexico. This is probably the first time that a father and son have played a football match on the same day for two different countries.

The junior Weah was born in New York, USA, and hence was eligible to play for them, and made his debut earlier this year. A striker, like his father, Timothy Weah joined Paris St-Germain in 2017 and has scored twice in three appearances for the French club this year.

Twitter went crazy about the news of the return of "King George".

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