MONROVIA – The sight of that sublime goal last Monday is probably still reverberating across the globe; but in Liberia where the father of the scorer of that goal once almost qualified his country’s national soccer team to its first ever 2002 World Cup showing, there was nothing but especial joy when in the 36th minute, young Timothy Weah whizzed past two Welsh defenders to connect with Pulisic’s through-pass, beat the last Welsh defender and slap the ball with the outside of his right foot past the haphazard keeper who looked on sheepishly as Tim rushed to the sidelines to celebrate his premier World Cup goal. In the stands, Tim’s proud parents, President Weah and First lady Clar Weah, were jubilating.
Many believe that Tim’s soccer mom Clar, whose name is gaining prominence on many sporting platforms, has earned all bragging rights to her son’s rise to fame in Qatar, because she and others worked overtime to instill the word “discipline” into Tim’s head when he was still young.
According to a video now trending the Internet, Clar had always taught her son to be disciplined if he must succeed in life, especially in a highly competitive soccer world where there are millions of talents fighting to be exposed.
“For me it’s hard work. Timothy had to do the hard work. He had to be disciplined. Paul (most likely Tim’s intramural coach) had us disciplined. He made us know that. Even when you’re late, you’re going to run. And you had to suck it up. He disciplined Timothy so well that I left Timothy in Europe at 14; and because of what he learned here, he carried it on with PSG Academy, and everyone in the Academy loves him,” Clar told a gathering of youngsters who sat on the grass court quietly listening to every word she said.
“I am just not saying it because he’s my son, but because he’s so disciplined. So, it has to do with a lot of hard work. You can have the least talented child, but bring him out every day. Let him kick the ball; let him listen to the coach. First of all, he has to respect the coach, and the parents have to respect the coach, because even there were moments where Timothy didn’t play. There were moments where Timothy wasn’t in the game. But I always said to Timothy, for your best interest, Paul knows what’s best for you. He has disciplined you the right way. So even if you’re not in the game; you’re on the bench, you watch the other players, and watch what they do, and you do extra practice, extra training to help yourself. So, it has to do with hard work more than talent. Talent, of course, is important. But if you have the talent and you don’t work hard, it means nothing,” Clar Weah stated emphatically.
With the USMNT team’s near drubbing of Wales at the 2022 Qatar World Cup opening, bookmakers are now confused about the predictability of this particular global derby, especially against yesterday’s routing of Messi’s Argentina by a lowly-rated Saudi Arabia.
“This could be the World Cup for the underdogs,” says James Garmondeh who boastfully told The Analyst that he’s betting on the USA, with the hope that Tim and other young American guns will do the job.
Garmondeh’s wager must just come out right, because, in Tim’s own words, he has a destiny to fulfill to honor his parents who sacrificed a lot to make him successful today.
“Parents don’t get enough credit for the things that they do. I want to give my mother, my dad their flowers while I can. Having two parents that came from nothing, from countries that weren’t properly developed, it’s amazing to see how far they’ve come. That pushes me, and makes me want to continue doing it for them. That’s why I am in the position that I am, because through thick and thin, they’ve kept me on the right path, and I needed them in order to get to where I am today.
“Watching my dad, things that he did with his career, and coming back home to help his people and becoming president; there’s not many people that can do that. To see your dad who is a black man have so much success and want to give back to his people is amazing.
“My mother is Jamaican and my dad is Liberian, and I grew up in the States my whole life. My mother came from nothing, had to fight for everything, even just to have some food on the table for everyone; seeing what she’s accomplished and seeing the goals she’s achieved now, it’s amazing, because she made me to be the best that I can be.
“My mom was my first coach, my intramural coach. The first time I learned the game was from my mother. My mother was definitely doing that, the one that started everything for me. As a young mom, you have goals and aspirations. My mom was sacrificing her life in order to take me to practice every day, pick me from school; whenever I needed to go to California, that’s across the map, taking me there to play games,” Tim Weah stated proudly.
Born February 22, 2000, Timothy Tarpeh Weah is an American professional soccer player of Liberian and Jamaican parentage who played as a winger for Ligue 1 club Lille and the United States national team. He is the son of former professional soccer player, Ballon d’Or winner, and President of Liberia, George Weah. In March 2018, he made his senior debut for Paris Saint-Germain and earned his first senior international cap for the United States.
To his credit, Tim has scored a total of 18 career goals spanning 2017 to 2022 while playing for Paris St. Germain’s fourth tier Championnat National 2 and the prestigious Ligue 1; Celtic, in the Scottish premiership league while on loan; and Lille in the top flight French Ligue 1.
His father George Manneh Weah spent 14 years playing for clubs in France, Italy and England. Arsène Wenger first brought him to Europe, signing him for Monaco in 1988. Weah moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 1992 where they won the Ligue 1 in 1994 and became the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League. He signed for AC Milan in 1995 where he spent four successful seasons, winning the Serie A twice.
Weah represented Liberia at international level, winning 75 caps and scoring 18 goals for his country and playing at the African Cup of Nations on two occasions. He also played an international friendly in 2018, where his number 14 jersey was retired. Regarded as one of the best players never to have played at the World Cup, Scott Murray in The Guardian refers to Weah as “hamstrung by hailing from a global minnow”.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, in 1995, Weah was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d’Or, becoming the first and only player to win these awards while representing an African country internationally. In 1989, 1994 and 1995, he was also named the African Footballer of the Year, and in 1996, he was named African Player of the Century. Known for his acceleration, speed, and dribbling ability, in addition to his goal scoring and finishing, Weah was described by FIFA as “the precursor of the multi-functional strikers of today”.
In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.
The greatest Africa, Europe, World Best soccer player who never played for his country in the World Cup was seen jubilating in Qatar on Monday, along with Tim’s shadow coach, First Lady Clar Weah, when Tim registered the Weah name in World Cup history books with that sublime right footed touch.