By Kofi Owusu Akoto
George Weah
For someone to really be a hero that anyone could look up to, they must make it to the world around them could not be the way it is now without him or her, and George Weah certainly has changed the world. It is not just in the world of soccer, for which he is most famous, but the world of the common people of Liberia that he strove to improve every day of his life. He is a hero as all of his work wasn’t just for him, but for people all over the world in need, and also because through his story and attitude he is able to inspire those who admire him every day to achieve their dreams.
A hero is not just someone who only tries to better his or her own life, but someone who looks to raise the quality of life and achieve not only for himself but for everyone around him. George Weah has always had this selfless quality rooted in everything that he does. Even now that his soccer career is over, he is working to bring peace to his home country of Liberia.
Almost everything he has done in the past ten years of his life has been in the effort of becoming an effective leader for his nation. He has put in countless hours improving himself to make himself a better politician like serving as a senator and furthering his education.
One of his most important roles he played in the lives of the Liberian people was his appointment by his former political rival, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to the position of peace ambassador. Here he was able to use his popularity from soccer with the general public to try and maintain peace in the war-torn country. The job was actually created by the president just for Weah, so he could use his influence on the people to try to diffuse the civil unrest in Liberia. This shows that even Weah’s political rivals realize how much the people love him and admire all he does for his country. Other members of the government are not the only people to recognize his efforts, as he has received numerous awards for helping and serving on UNICEF. He has helped them tackle very important issues in Liberia like promoting treatment for HIV and he even ran a recovery clinic for child soldiers affected by the wars. Neither of these were easy jobs, but Weah knew they were necessary and took the challenges head-on.
For me, part of what makes someone a hero is what they give to the world around them, and I think there is no doubt that Weah has given almost everything.
To be able to impact the world as Weah has, you have to be able to inspire and connect with people to gain their trust and lead them. This comes from showing people your strengths through not only your accomplishments but also through how you handle adversity. His political career has not always been successful, as he has come up second best two times shooting for the presidency, once running for president and the second time as a vice presidential candidate. He ran both times for the party that he created and leads to this day, the Congress for Democratic Change. The CDC is the leading party in the effort to change Liberian politics from as they are. Even though he lost those elections, and it would be easy for him to just quit, he has not let those setbacks end his political career. Lots of people criticized his running for the more important roles, and critics even doubted whether his role in politics was even for the better of the country because he lacked formal education that other candidates had. Still today he is striving to become if he is elected, the best president possible. To answer critics, he recently got his masters degree in political science and was successfully elected to the Senate to try and gain more political experience before the upcoming 2017 election in Liberia. The story of his political career shows the reasons why people find him inspirational because of his work ethic and dedication to his country.
Weah was used to facing adversity when it came to politics because of the life experiences he got from his soccer career. The same never say die attitude that people like about his political efforts are part of what made Weah such an admirable player during his career. People in Liberia even call him “King George” because of his overwhelming popularity all across the country. You don’t get a nickname like that easily, and he earned his fans’ loyalty from his hard earned success during his soccer career. From a young age George faced a lot of adversity as a player.
Liberia , so he wasn’t put into a great soccer academy that bred him for greatness like most other world class players in the modern history of the sport. Instead, just like any other kid in his impoverished town in Liberia, he played in the streets with balls made of rags. His first actual experience playing professional soccer were for small teams without much pay and only known by small groups of loyal fans. His reputation grew as he bounced around the smaller teams until eventually he was getting a lot of attention from the best teams in Africa. The first big team he played for was in Cameroon, not many people knew what to expect, but he quickly showed his class as he dominated those leagues.
Soon enough European teams (Europe is the best place for club soccer in the world) began to recruit him. Their interest grew and he was signed for some of the most famous teams all over Europe. He played for many big clubs and won numerous titles and awards with teams admired all over the world like PSG in France and AC Milan in Italy, teams so famous and big that even the people of Liberia were in the loop about his success.
His greatest accomplishment was winning the European Soccer Player of the Year, to this day, he is the only African soccer player to achieve this. People like underdog stories when someone succeeds against all odds. This is why his story is one that can inspire any soccer player in the world. If Weah can make to the top of the world from his humble beginnings, anyone should be able to. I think that this is why people love him so much, they root for him because of the grit that he showed in his career and that he now puts in his political career.
Weah once said in an interview “if I sit and say, ‘Look, I have a comfortable life,’ and I . . . just think about myself, i don’t think that would be fair. That would be very selfish. Because everything I do in my life is to benefit my people,” (Rice). This attitude is one of the special things about George Weah and what makes him able to influence the world as he has. He is a hero because he has significantly changed the lives of many for the better, and he inspires people every day to persevere and achieve their potential.