Goal celebrations have become a ubiquitous sight in the modern game. With players going to great lengths on the training-ground to perfect their celebrations, it seems right to reward the very best with a spot on our top 10 list of goal celebrations.
10. Finidi George
Finidi George ‘took the piss’ out of Greece quite literally with this unique celebration in the 1994 World Cup. The Nigerian winger capped off a swift counter-attack with a deft chip over the goalkeeper and proceeded to celebrate by imitating a urinating dog by cocking his leg to one side.
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9. Jurgen Klinsmann
Klinsmann arrived in England with a reputation as a diver and he played up to this image with his iconic goal celebration of diving head first and sliding along the pitch. His celebration has become so well known that it is referred to as ‘doing a Klinsmann’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Bx8Jc2HrQ
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8. Craig Bellamy
Apparently, Craig Bellamy takes his karaoke very seriously. Bellamy didn’t take kindly to John Arne Riise refusing to take part in a team sing-a-long and went all Ellen Woods on the Norwegian and took a nine-iron to Riise’s shins.
Liverpool’s first game after the golf-club incident was against Barcelona in the Champions League and almost inevitably, Bellamy found himself on the score-sheet. He decided to mark the occasion with an imaginary swing of a golf club. In a final act of poetic irony, Bellamy set up Riise for the winning goal as Liverpool won 2-1 at the Nou Camp.
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7. Cristiano Lucarelli
We all know that footballers tend to love themselves a bit more than regular folk but Livorno legend Cristiano Lucarelli takes it one step further. After putting Livorno 3-0 up against Piacenza, Lucarelli proceeded to take off his shirt and dry-hump it in what can only be described as one of the most bizarre celebrations ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq118I668M8
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6. Francisco Gallardo
Carrying on the homoerotic high-jinks is ex-Sevilla player Francisco Gallardo who decided to celebrate Jose Antonio Reyes’ goal by nibbling on his penis. Gallardo’s peckishness for pecker was viewed rather dimly by the Spanish Football Federation who fined and suspended Gallardo for being in breach of the rules that govern “sporting dignity and decorum”.
[youtube KLiK91U-UpM]
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5. Temuri Ketsbaia
Scoring a goal is meant to be a joyous occasion but for Ketsbaia, it was an opportunity to vent some frustration. Unhappy with his frequent role as a substitute, Ketsbaia celebrated his last-minute winner against Bolton by flinging his shirt into the crowd and attempting to do the same with his boots. When that didn’t come off, he decided to violently kick the advertising hoardings while fending off his teammate Phillipe Albert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlqCCDh9XT0
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4. Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne’s infamous ‘dentist chair’ celebration after he scored his brilliant goal against Scotland is one of the most memorable celebrations of all time. Gascoigne was photographed on a pre-tournament tour in Hong Kong strapped into a dentist’s chair with alcohol being poured into his mouth. Upon scoring his goal, Gazza decided the recreate the occasion by laying on his back while a teammate sprayed water into his open mouth.
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3. Robbie Fowler
Robbie Fowler’s controversial goal celebration against Everton landed the Kop legend in hot water. The striker celebrated his goal by pretending the white line of the penalty area was cocaine. This was in response to false accusations that Fowler was a drug user. Manager Gerard Houllier launched a ludicrous attempt to defend Fowler’s celebrations by claiming that he was ‘eating the grass’. Somehow Gerard, I don’t think so.
[youtube lsAUL03Xse0]
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2. Jimmy Bullard
Jimmy Bullard has developed a reputation as one of the funniest players in the game and naturally it fell to him to deliver one of the best celebrations of all time. Bullard scored Hull City’s equaliser against Manchester City from the penalty spot and he replicated manager Phil Brown’s infamous on-pitch team talk from the previous season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajB-D_h2xsM
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1. FC Stjarnan
Clinching the number one spot on our list are the players of Icelandic club FC Stjarnan who have come up with a whole host of creative celebrations. These include the human toilet, the human bicycle and my personal favourite the catching and photographing of a fish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW7__LqrXSA
Any other celebrations you feel should have made the list?
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