Mfahamu mchezaji pekee wa Afrika mwenye Ballon d'Or

Rais wa Liberia George Weah (55) ambaye ndio mchezaji pekee wa Kiafrika kuwahi kushinda tuzo ya Ballon d’or alisherehekea tuzo hiyo aliyoshinda mnamo 1995 katika video fupi ambayo ilisambaa kwenye mitandao ya kijamii siku ya jana Jumapili.

 

Meet the only African player with the Ballon d'Or 

Liberian President George Weah (55), who is the only African player to ever win the Ballon d'or, celebrated the award he won in 1995 in a short video that went viral on social media on Sunday. 

Weah, who was playing for the AC Milan club at the time, beat his opponents Jürgen Klinsmann, who was playing for Bayer Munich, Jari Litmanen of Ajax Amsterdam and Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus and won the award after having a good season in 1995/96. Weah scored 15 goals and provided 15 assists in 35 matches in all competitions that season leading to the crowning of the winner on December 24, in Paris, France. 

This was the first edition of the Ballon d'or award where players born outside Europe were allowed to participate. Since then no African player has won the award while many players came close to winning the coveted award but could not. Samuel Eto'o who won three titles with Inter Milan in 2009 was expected to win but Lionel Messi emerged as the winner while Eto'o ended up in fifth place. 

Senegalese Sadio Mane is the African player who reached the highest position in the Ballon d'or rankings since George Weah's victory in 1995. Mane ended up in 4th place in 2019 after winning the European Champions League with Liverpool. Mohamed Salah who was 7th in 2021 believes he will win one day. 

However, George Weah advised them not to be interested in the award. "They should not worry about the Ballon d'Or, instead they should focus on their performance and try to improve themselves. Salah and Mane should not put unnecessary pressure on themselves." "I always worked hard to lift my family out of poverty, that's how I was awarded the Ballon d'Or." Weah told Canal+ in April 2021. 

Sadio Mane can finish second this season and become the first African to enter that position since the AC Milan legend won.