Goal celebration

In football, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration may be performed by the goalscorer (most notably), his or her teammates, the manager or coaching staff and/or the supporters of the team. Whilst referring to the celebration of a goal in general, the term can also be applied to specific actions, such as a player removing his shirt or performing a somersault.

Contents 1 Celebration 1.1 Goal song 1.2 Common celebrations 1.3 Memorable celebrations 2 Punishment 3 Injuries 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Celebration

Goal song

A goal song or goal celebration music is an about 30 to 45 seconds long melody, that is played in sports like football or ice hockey after a goal is scored.

The most used goal song is Tom Hark sung by the Piranhas. This is used by Gillingham, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, Sheffield United and Ipswich Town, to name a few. A well-known goal song is Bellini's "Samba De Janeiro", which is played after each Norwich City goal when they play at home and was used as the goal song in Euro 2008. In North America, "Rock and Roll (Part Two)" of the Glitter Band is also a popular goal song. When played as a goal song, the fans chant out "Hey!" along with the chorus.^[1]

In ice hockey, the use of goal songs is very popular. A goal by the Montreal Canadiens, on home ice, is followed by U2's Vertigo^[2]. The New York Rangers play the song "Slapshot", which was written by Ray Castoldi, the Music Director at Madison Square Garden.

Common celebrations

• The scorer running away from teammates who wish to embrace or congratulate him.

• A giant group hug of the players on the pitch with the scorer underneath, or the players jumping on each other shoulders.

• The scorer banging with a fist on his chest.

• The scorer opening up his mouth as wide as possible as if he was lying in the dentist's chair, this is usually done while running on the field very fast. It was used many times, if not at all times, by Filippo Inzaghi.

• The scorer kissing the club/national badge on his or her shirt, to show his or her love for the club/country.

• The scorer diving onto the grass with arms and legs outstretched. This was supposedly first done by Jürgen Klinsmann, shortly after he joined Tottenham Hotspur. Klinsmann was actually performing this goal celebration to satirise his own (in his belief unjustified) reputation for diving to win free-kicks and penalties. It became known as "a Klinsmann".

• The scorer putting a finger to his mouth, as if telling the (opposition) crowd to be quiet.

• The scorer walking or running away in a nonchalant style with a "cocky" smirk on their face as if to say "I'm the best, that was easy, etc." Another adaptation of this involves the scorer standing still and turning or looking around with the said look.

• The scorer sliding on his knees, made famous by former Yugoslavian striker Dragan Mance.

• The scorer outstretching both arms and running around changing the angle of arms mimicking an airplane. This was made famous by former Brazilian striker Careca.

• The scorer kissing the ring finger. Married players are saluting to their wives with this celebration.

• The scorer rocking his arms from side to side, as though rocking a baby.^[3] This usually signifies that the scorer recently became a parent, whether or not for the first time. This was made well-known by Brazilian striker Bebeto (joined by teammates Romário and Mazinho) at the 1994 FIFA World Cup after his quarter-final goal against the Netherlands.

• The scorer sucking his thumb as a tribute to his child(ren).

• The scorer pointing towards the sky, either to thank God or to salute to someone who died.

• The scorer putting his hands behind his ears as if to listen to the reaction of the crowd more. This is usually done when a player is getting booed during the game and then scores, or if a player returns to score against his former club. Rarely this celebration is aimed at Club staff, players or officials for various internal reasons too.

• The scorer exhibiting some kind of dancing after the goal, usually joined in by teammates. The first player gaining worldwide notoriety with this was probably Cameroonian veteran Roger Milla on the 1990 FIFA World Cup who celebrated all his four goals by dancing around the corner flag.

• The scorer performing some kind of acrobatic routine after the goal. The first well-known player to do this was probably Mexican striker Hugo Sánchez in the 1980s, who always celebrated his goals by performing a backflip in honor to his sister, who was a gymnast and participated in the 1976 Olympic Games. Another player famous for his backflips is Julius Aghahowa.^[3]

• The scorer imitating to shoot with some kind of weapon, either aiming towards the sky or to some other virtual target.

• Teammates congratulating to the scorer by kneeling down and pretending to shine his shoe.

Memorable celebrations

• Arguably the most memorable goal celebration came from Italian midfielder Marco Tardelli who, after scoring Italy's second goal against West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final sprinted into his own half, shaking his fists against his chest, tears pouring down his face, screaming "goal!" as he shook his head wildly. This is also called the "Tardelli's scream" or "l'urlo di Tardelli".^[4]

• The 1982 World Cup also saw the usually quiet Falcão running the pitch screaming with both his hands raised after scoring Brazil's second goal against Italy.^[5]

• At the 1994 FIFA World Cup Diego Maradona ran towards one of the sideline cameras shouting with a distorted face and bulging eyes after he scored against Greece. This turned to be Maradona's last international goal for Argentina; he tested positive for ephedrine and never played for his country again.^[6]

• The Greece team at the 1994 World Cup also saw Finidi George of Nigeria running to the corner flag after scoring, kneeling down and imitating a urinating dog.^[6]

• A memorable choreographed celebration occurred when Paul Gascoigne scored against Scotland during the Euro 1996 championships. He lay on his back while his teammates grabbed water bottles from the touchline and poured water into his open mouth. This celebration mimicked a controversial pre-tournament incident when England players were photographed in a nightclub, sitting in a dentist's chair having alcoholic drinks poured down their throats.^[7]

• After scoring a chip against Sunderland in 1996, Eric Cantona playing for Manchester United celebrated by standing still on the spot, raising his arms aloft, holding his chest out and presenting a blank expression.^[8]

• Six years after missing a crucial penalty in the shootout of the 1990 World Cup semi-finals against Germany, England's Stuart Pearce finally stepped up to take another kick in the Euro 1996 quarter-finals penalty shootout against Spain. He converted his attempt and celebrated with an emotional screaming outburst in front of an ecstatic Wembley crowd.^[9]

• In a 1997 Premiership match between Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia repeatedly and angrily kicked the advertising hoardings at the side of the pitch after ripping off his top and throwing it into the crowd, as well as aggressively pushing away the Newcastle players who tried to hug him in celebration of the goal.^[8]

• Ian Wright was chasing Cliff Bastin's record of 178 goals for Arsenal F.C., and in a Premiership game against Bolton, Wright scored and took off his shirt to reveal a vest underneath with the slogan "Just Done It" (referring to beating the record, and Just Do It, the slogan of Wright's sponsor Nike). Wright had only equalled the record however, and not beaten it but would score again just 5 minutes later to break the record and he revealed the vest again, this time correctly.^[10]

• At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Denmark's Brian Laudrup scored the equalizer against Brazil, then ran to the sidelines and lay down on his side leaning his head on his elbow, as if he had been on the beach.^[6]

• One of the most famous celebrations in women's sports history is the shirt-stripping moment by American Brandi Chastain after she converted the winning penalty in the 1999 Women's World Cup final against China. The image of Chastain with her shirt off and revealing her bare stomach and her sports bra was immortalized on the covers of Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated.^[11]

• In 2001 Emile Heskey made famous the putt celebration when he 'made it 5' in England's famous 5-1 win away in Germany. This was of course accompanied by the DJ celebration, as seen by many players nowadays. This 5-1 Team included Michael Owen who scored a hat-trick and celebrated with the finger, as made famous by Nick Powell

• In the 2002 World Cup, South Korean forward Ahn Jung-Hwan imitated a speed skater after tying the game against the United States, in reference to the controversial disqualification of Korean short track speed skater Kim Dong-Sung in the 1500 metres at the 2002 Winter Olympics, allowing American Apolo Ohno to win the gold medal.^[6]

• In 2007, whilst playing for Liverpool, Craig Bellamy celebrated his goal against Barcelona simulating a golf swing, due to media speculation into a fight between him and teammate John Arne Riise at a karaoke night near their training ground in Portugal, where he allegedly tried to hit Riise with a golf club.^[12]

• In a July 2009 U.S. Open Cup match between bitter rivals Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers at the Timbers' PGE Park, the Sounders' Roger Levesque—a player especially disliked by Timbers fans—scored within the first minute. He then stood at the top of the Portland penalty area while teammate Nate Jaqua pretended to chop him down like a tree. The celebration ended when Levesque fell flat on his back after being "chopped down".^[13]

• In September 2009, Emmanuel Adebayor of Manchester City celebrated his goal against his previous club, Arsenal by sprinting the length of the pitch to the opposite end of the stadium, where the Arsenal fans were seated, and sliding on his knees as if celebrating with them. The Arsenal fans had to be held back by stewards to stop them attacking him. Adebayor apologized after the match, and said his emotions took over him because the Arsenal supporters were insulting him during the whole game.^[14]

• In December 2009 Jimmy Bullard celebrated his penalty goal against Manchester City by standing in the centre of a circle created by all the players, symbolizing Phil Brown's well-documented half-time team-talk in the previous season.^[15]

• Starting in 2010, the Icelandic club Stjarnan has become a worldwide Internet sensation for their elaborate goal celebrations, among them an animated shooting spree and a marching band. Perhaps the most elaborate saw the goal scorer pretend to fish a teammate out of the sea, ending with the teammate being "displayed" as a trophy.^[16]

Punishment

According to the rules of the games (Law 12):

While it is permissible for a player to demonstrate his joy when a goal has been scored, the celebration must not be excessive.^[17]

In recent seasons, FIFA have attempted to crack down on some of the more enthusiastic celebrations. If a player incites the crowd and/or takes his shirt off after scoring a goal he is likely to get booked by the referee. This can cause huge controversy if the player has already been booked, since he would then be sent off. However, some players get around this rule by pulling the hem of their shirts over the head, without taking the shirt off entirely, but this is not always overturned by the referees. Some players were receiving fines for dropping their shorts after scoring.

Jumping into the crowd is also a bookable offence ("deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission", as identified in Law 12).^[17]

Players might be also fined for revealing t-shirts which contain some kind of message directed to the spectators. Notable examples include Robbie Fowler being fined for showing a t-shirt which was designed to show support for the Liverpool dockers' strike incorporating the Calvin Klein 'CK' into the word doCKer and Thierry Henry, who was fined by UEFA after he removed his Arsenal shirt to reveal a t-shirt reading "To the new-born Kyd", which was directed to his friend, Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri, who had just given birth. In 1999, Fowler was also fined £60,000 by his club and the Premier League for having celebrated his penalty goal against Everton by getting down on all fours and miming the snorting of cocaine off of the white touchline. Although it was seen as Fowler's response to being accused of drug abuse in the tabloid press, then-manager Gérard Houllier famously claimed that he was merely imitating "a cow eating grass".

Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tévez was sent off when celebrating a goal against arch-rivals River Plate during the 2004 Copa Libertadores, imitating a chicken, clearly mocking the opposite crowd, in spite of not being booked previously.

Paolo Di Canio made his mark in 2006, when during his period at Lazio, he made a fascist salute to the right-wing fans. He was fined and suspended as a result.

Ipswich Town player David Norris received a fine after using a hand cuff gesture to celebrate scoring against Blackpool in November 2008, dedicating the goal to ex-teammate Luke McCormick who was jailed for death by dangerous driving, although people are never arrested with their arms crossed and held aloft. Everton midfielder Tim Cahill received a similar fine for a similar gesture in a match on 2 March 2008, a similar incident took place in Chelsea versus Middlesbourgh when teammate Salomon Kalou scored a brace and thereafter crossing hands with teammate Didier Drogba, it was later revealed that he said he wanted to try out a new celebration and was not supporting an Ivorian convictionist.

In a 2009 Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal, City striker Emmanuel Adebayor received a yellow card for running the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the Arsenal fans. This was seen as controversial because Adebayor signed for Manchester City that summer from Arsenal.

Injuries

While unusual and somewhat ironic, a variety of football players have managed to injure themselves during celebration: examples include Paulo Diogo (who severed a finger after it got caught in a fence), Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, ^[18] Marco Tardelli,^[19] and Fabian Espindola^[20] (who celebrated a goal that was later declared offside).

See also

• Football culture
• Gatorade shower
• Pitch invasion
• Touchdown celebration

References

External links

• Celebrating in style - FIFAworldcup.com
• Manchester United's Rocket Launcher Celebrations