Timothy Weah signed with Paris St-Germain earlier this year.
(Note: FrontRowSoccer.com Editor Michael Lewis interviewed Timothy Weah four years ago when he was 13-years-old. On Monday, Weah became the first U.S. male to register a hat-trick in a knockout-round game at a World Cup (a 5-0 win over Paraguay in the Under-17 World Cup).
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Like many young and aspiring soccer players, Timothy Weah sounds like thousands of boys his age.
The Rosedale, N.Y. resident lives for the game, is inspired by and admires Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet and wants to play professionally someday.
Just like any other kid.
But, like it or not, he isn’t just like any kid. Just look at his name, which certainly attracts attention, and before you ask, yes, he is the son of former Liberian national team star and A.C. Milan great George Weah.
At the age of 13, Weah is starting to attract some attention of his own, thanks to his attacking ability, which is why he is on the US Club Soccer id2 1999-2000 team that is touring Spain this week.
It would have been easy to put a player who goes by the last name of Weah on a team that will play youth teams in Barcelona and Real Madrid in the coming week.
“When we go through the process, we’re not looking at, No. 1, what club anyone comes from and certainly we’re not looking at surnames. Of course,” coach Jack McKeown said. “Timothy’s name sticks out, but that’s certainly not why he was selected. He was selected because he is a promising, attacking player, good going to the goal, good at trying to beat defenders, slashing into spaces, really effective in breaking down defenses and that’s the role we see for him.”
While he understands what his father brought to the beautiful game during almost a two-decade career that spanned such clubs as Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City, Marseille and Milan, the B.W. Gottschee product realized there is a weight of expectation on him.
Timothy Weah has embraced it and doesn’t see it as a burden.
“It’s half and half because I want to be myself and play the way I want,” he said. “But I also want to listen to him because he was one of the greatest. He knows how to play the game well, so I want to learn from him, just move forward and play for one of the best teams in the world and be one of the best strikers in the world.”
Some lofty goals for any young player.
So, when did Timothy discover that George Weah was, well, George Weah?
It was when he was out with his family.
“Wherever we went,” he said. “We went to malls and stuff and everyone would be like, ‘Oh, that’s George Weah.’ I would just laugh and say, ‘My dad was one of the greatest players and I want to follow in his footsteps.’ But I also want to make a name for myself. I want to be Timothy Weah, be myself, play my game and still follow in his footsteps while I’m doing that.”
It should not be so surprising that the 5-6, 125-lb. Weah has forged a reputation as an attacker, not unlike his father.
“It probably came naturally to me because I know that the goal is on the other side,” he said. “I want to go and score. So I try my hardest to beat the defender with different tricks or maybe a little flick forward and go to goal and score.
Weah, the captain of the Gottschee 1999 team while playing a year up, said he began playing soccer when when he was around four-years-old. His mother, Clar, was his first coach. Gottschee plays at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, N.Y. and practices at Franklin Lane High School in Jamaica, N.Y.
“She knows the game a lot because she watched my dad,” he said. “She coached me through with my sister and I have been playing since then. I’ve been to all these camps, ID2, I really thank my mom and my dad helping me to this day and being successful in life. Not only on the pitch, but off the pitch.”
These days it’s dad George’s turn to weigh-in for some advice. After all, what better way to learn than from one of the best in the world?
“I make a few mistakes and he explains to me and works me through the mistakes and tries to help me to make the better of them,” he said. “It really has helped me a lot leading me forward.”
The biggest lesson Timothy has learned? Well, it isn’t necessarily found on the field
“I learned to be humble and always work hard because working hard and being humble can get you far in life, playing soccer and off the pitch,” he said.
“I think I got it from my father because my mom always asks me questions: which player do you think is the best? I say I think the whole team is good. I don’t like to make fun of players or brag about myself because I feel like I still have a long way to go. Those players are my teammates and I don’t need to be disrespectful or talk bad about them because we are working together as one and as a unit.”
His goals are lofty.
“I would like to play anywhere,” Weah said. “If you play professional, it really shows that you have been working hard to come into this team or wherever you play, Europe, Asia, MLS.”
At one time or another, for better or worse, names such as Freddy Adu, Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo and even Jozy Altidore, before he found his game with AZ Alkmaar the past two years, have been bandied about as an American soccer savior as the U.S. searches and yearns for a superstar.
So, it certainly would not be right or fair to put Timothy Weah on that pedestal, especially at this tender age. But giving him a chance to develop with some of the best players around the country certainly is the right path to take.
As it turns out, McKeown said that Weah was the only player born in 2000 on the trip.
“So this selection is based on the future,” he said. “Every year we select one or two boys that we think would be great promise for the next coming year. We think that No. 1 he will contribute this year but also he will learn a lot that and what he learns will help the group next year should he be selected again. We are really excited to have him along. He’s matured from what we have seen in the initial camps. He’s had some good training sessions.”
More than anything else, McKeown said he has been impressed with Weah’s consistency.
“It’s more of the consistency that he shows to be willing to take players on,” he said. “It wasn’t a specific moment. I’ve seen him play for his club team as well and I’ve seen him in camps. I like the mentality that he has, that he wants to go forward, he wants to score goals and wants his team to attack. I think we have too few guys in this country that have that mindset.”
Timothy Weah’s favorite player is Messi, who is on a record 16-game scoring streak for Barcelona in La Liga at the moment.
“I really like Messi because he is one of the best players in the world,” he said. “He’s very humble and I want to be just like him. You can get by on less by being humble.”
Weah and his teammates will get an opportunity to challenge and test themselves against one of Barcelona’s youth teams on Thursday, after meeting Real Madrid on Tuesday.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “Playing against Barcelona and Real Madrid is a big step forward because they’re professional club teams. My team, of course the id2 class, I think we hae a chance against them. We have very technical, physical and tactical players here. We’re strong. I think we can compete with the professional academies.”
He is looking forward to those games.
“It is big because me and my teammates can go there and impress the coaches,” he said. “You don’t know. We can stay in Spain and . . . play with one of the professional academies. If it doesn’t happen, we just have to keep moving forward and keep working hard.”
