Weah stars in Liberian presidential run-off

A former world soccer star faces off against a Harvard-educated woman in a heated brains-versus-brawn run-off tomorrow to decide Liberia’s first post-war president after a quarter century of coups and war.

One-time FIFA player of the year George Weah and former Finance Minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won first and second plae respectively in the October 11 first round, which weeded out 20 other candidates, including warlords and rebel leaders. In the first round, Weah took 29% of the vote to Johnson-Sirleaf’s 19%. A simple majority had been needed for outright victory.