Football is a game of moments—90 some minutes of a constant ebb and flow of anticipation that many hope will end in an eruption of cheers and not hands to the face disappointment. And when someone sends a ball hurdling towards the goal, there is a moment of suspense when the players, the fans, and everyone else all stop for a very brief second wondering, waiting, watching.
To me, goal celebrations are one of the most beautiful forms of human expressions ever. Pardon the hyperbole, but no other display of athletic emotion can measure up to the satisfactory elation that ensues when the ball finds the back of the net. And celebrations have become an iconic part of football with images like the Maradona leap, Tim Cahill’s boxing, and . Recognizing this, Coca Cola aired their World Cup commercial for the year dubbed ‘The History of Celebration’.
There are, however, a few recent goal celebrations that the advert left out…
Papa Bouba Diop – Senegal v. France 2002
What an upset! The defending champions lose to the underdogs with one stunner of a goal. And a dancing celebration to accompany it.
Ruud van Nistelrooy – Netherlands v. Andorra 2006 Qualifying
Don’t get mad, get even. Van Nistelrooy was booked for it, but we can’t leave this off of the list. Besides, the Dutch hammered Andorra 4-0.
Peter Crouch – England v. Hungary 2006 Qualifying
In another qualifier, Peter Crouch debuted his now infamous Robot Dance. In June of that year, the lanky England striker vowed that the next time he danced would be if England won the tournament. After they were eliminated by Portugal, he edited his promise, saying that the dance would emerge if he scored in the UEFA Champions League Final. We haven’t seen it since…
Ahn Jung Hwan –Korea v. USA 2002
This is a great example of a loaded goal celebration. In the 2002 Winter Olympics, Korean speedskater Kim Dong-Sung was disqualified and lost the gold medal he won in the 1500m race when US skater Apolo Anton Ohno (who won silver, then got upgraded to gold after the decision) raised his hands behind Kim, indicating that Kim had blocked him. In response, the Koreans performed an exaggerated parody after equalising with the US that summer.
Honorable Mention: Brandi Chastain – USA v. China
Back in 1999, when women’s soccer still had a world cup, Brandi Chastain made the legendary penalty that launched the US team into the number 1 spot and celebrated by promptly removing her shirt—a practice that male footballers are not unfamiliar with—although being female, she sparked a bit of controversy.
FIFA has been cracking down on the showboating, though. Now shirt removals are grounds to be carded and fined.
Which celebrations should Coca-Cola included in their advert? Which did we miss?
What about Gordon Strachan’s celebration at Mexico 86? Can’t find a video of it but when he scored, Strachan was about to jump over the advertising hoardings which had been the standard celebration in the tournament until then. But he was too short and had to stop and just stick his leg up onto the advertising sign because he couldn’t get over it. It was joked that Strachan failed to “get his leg over”, a slang expression the UK meaning to have sex
Here is the link for Brandi Chastain – USA v. China 1999 goal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxHzLF2qqnE
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