#2 George Weah vs Bayern Munich - Group Stages, 1994-95
George Weah was an inspiration to millions in Africa and throughout the world for he showed during his remarkable career and with trademark emphatic certainty that it didn’t matter where you were from, you could fight your way to greatness if you had the will to do so.
Weah certainly had the will, and allied with his incredible skill on the ball, scintillating pace and brute power, the Liberian was an irresistible force of nature when on song – which he was more often than not. 1995 was his year as he became the first and only African to ever be crowned the FIFA World Player of the Year.
And all this was a direct result of the incredible ’94-’95 campaign that Weah had with Paris Saint Germain, both domestically and in the UEFA Champions League. It was his performance in Europe that truly stood, as the Parisians romped to the semifinals unbeaten and Weah himself ended up topping the scoring charts with seven goals.
The pick of those was a flamboyantly aggressive effort against Bayern Munich. After receiving the ball in the opposition half, Weah evaded a couple of challenges as he meandered along in the middle of the park, before suddenly moving forward and engaging in a quick give and take with Valdo.
After this, he switched to top gear, as he effortlessly moved past a prone Munich defender and evaded another sliding tackler with contemptuous ease, while his shift to the right at that pace threw off a third defender. He then hammered a shot right into the top corner of the Munich goal, the ball hitting the back of the net before the great Oliver Kahn finished stretching to his maximum reach as he dived in vain.
It was a microcosm of the best of Weah - faster, stronger and more powerful than anyone else on the pitch with him.