Pretty goal: Liberian president’s son Tim Weah scores US’s first world cup goal in 8 years

Here’s your name-dropping check-list for Day 2, November the Twenty First, USA Vs Wales

George Weah is the Liberian Imran Khan. A celebrated football star, first African to be become FIFA player of the year, turned to politics after retirement and became the president in 2017. His son Tim starred last night for USA, scoring the goal against Wales.

The father George was born in the Gibraltar area of Clara Town, a slum in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. “Sport was my passport out of poverty,” he once said. During his teenage years in the 1980s, he shared a bedroom with 10 other boys. Years later, he would stand at the Samuel Doe football stadium in Monrovia, where he has played a lot, to take the oath of office as the president of Liberia. It was the first election of the nation, formed by the freed American slaves, after the end of the brutal civil wars. He took over from Africa’s first female president, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who stepped aside after two terms.

George Weah’s Liberia never got to play at the World Cup. His son Tim now got the chance and made it count.

Wales’ Neco Williams kicks the ball past Tim Weah of the United States during the World Cup, group B soccer match between the United States and Wales, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

“My Dad wanted to do it with his country, but he didn’t have the opportunity to do it. Now he’s kind of living through me. I think it’s a blessing. It’s just amazing to be able to represent my family on this stage,” Tim told Fox Sports a few days back. “I think it’s gonna mean the world to him,””Seeing his son on a stage and following in his footsteps is dope. If I had a son or a daughter and I was watching them play in a World Cup, I’d be happy, too.”

Tim would have been eligible to play for Liberia or Jamaica, where his mother hails from, as well as France. But raised in New York, he had always wanted to play for USA.

Tim Weah of the United States, celebrates after scoring during the World Cup, group B soccer match between the United States and Wales, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

The father George was a forward, who had played for Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea, and Manchester City during an 18-year club career which also saw him win a Ballon D’or. His final appearance for Liberia was in September 2018 when he made a surprise appearance in an exhibition game against Nigeria at the age of 51, a year after he’d been elected president of Liberia.

But the son, in some ways, has gone one step bigger: A goal at the world cup.

And it was a wonderful team goal as well. Christian Pulisic exploded through the midfield, and plummeted the ball past two defenders and Tim Weah cut in from the right, dropping a defender, to take the ball and had a lovely light touch with his right foot, winking the ball under the goalie into the net for USA’s first world cup goal in 8 years.