As Jordi Cruyff will be the first to attest, it’s no easy task stepping out of your father’s shadow when he happens to be a football legend.
As dads go, George Weah — winner of the 1995 Ballon d’Or, and widely considered one of the greatest Africans to play the game — is quite the name to live up to.
After prolific spells at Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan — and brief stints at Manchester City and Chelsea — the 49-year-old Weah has been forging a career in politics, winning a seat in Liberia’s Sentate in 2014. Weah ran for the Liberian presidency in 2005 and is reportedly expected to stand again in 2017.
While Weah deals with the weighty matters of state, his 15-year-old son Timothy has been grabbing the headlines after scoring five goals for PSG’s Under-17 side in the 13-0 win over China’s Shanghai Greenland Shenhua in Qatar’s Al Kass International Cup earlier this month.
His fifth, a deft backheeled flick, was a strike even his dad — who is perhaps best remembered for a wonder goal for AC Milan against Verona in 1996 — would have been proud of.
Born in America, the 15-year-old Weah represents the U.S. at youth level, and has already scored for his country.
The next task for the teenager is to break into the PSG team, though that’s no easy task given the wealth of talent on the Parisian club’s books.
The survey states the average wage for a player at PSG is around $9 million a year, while at Real Madrid it’s approximately $8.6 million.
That intense competition for places at the Parc des Princes saw homegrown Mamadou Sakho leave PSG to join Liverpool in 2013.
Though PSG were beaten in their two other matches in Qatar, losing to Real Madrid and Al Ahli, the club’s teenage striker is unlikely to forget this competition in a hurry given his five-goal haul.
Timothy Weah — remember the name.