Dummy and dumber? The best goal celebrations
Carlos Tevez joined the pantheon of great goal celebrations yesterday when the Manchester United forward scored against Birmingham and stuck a pink dummy into his mouth in tribute to his daughter. He joins a rich tradition of scorers who believe that the entertainment should carry on even after the ball is in the back of the net. Here are ten of the best goal celebrations.
Bebeto, 1994 World Cup finals - Brazil were workmanlike in this tournament except when it came to the forward's "baby-rocking" effort in tribute to his new-born son, Mattheus. Perhaps inspired many other sickly-sentimental family-orientated celebrations, such as the Tevez dummy, Raul and Frank Lampard kissing their wedding rings, Luis Garcia's thumb-sucking and Francesco Totti pretending to give birth to the ball.
Fabrizio Ravanelli, passim - Back when top-quality foreign players were a novelty in England, the Italian star arrived in Middlesbrough and it was not long before he was running around with his shirt over his head. The celebration became so prevalent, Fifa banned it.
Craig Bellamy, 2007 - That cheeky scamp. Days after allegedly drunkenly attacking his Liverpool team-mate, John Arne Riise, with a golf club at a training camp in Portugal, Bellamy scored against Barcelona and celebrated with an imaginary golf swing.
Finidi George, 1994 World Cup finals - After scoring against Greece, the Nigeria forward got down on all fours, started barking and pretended to urinate on the corner flag. In 2001 he joined Ipswich Town and rarely had the opportunity to celebrate.
Robbie Fowler, 1999 - Surely the most expensive celebration of all time. Fowler was fined £60,000 by the FA after getting on all fours and pretending to snort the pitch's white lines in response to fans' taunts claiming he was a drug user. The Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier, claimed that actually Fowler was imitating "a cow eating grass".
Barnado Corradi, 2006 - the striker was hopeless for Manchester City last season but leaves as his legacy a great coal celebration. Against Fulham, he used the corner flag as a sword to knight none other than Joey Barton. A likely story.
Roger Milla, 1990 World Cup finals - He may have been 38 (at least) but the Cameroon striker showed the corner flag some flirtatious hip-swivelling moves in Italia '90; pole-dancing isn't just something you pay good money to see in Soho.
Francisco Gallardo, 2001 - More weird than great, this one. Jose Antonio Reyes's desperation to quit Arsenal and return to La Liga was strange given that a few years earlier Gallardo, his Seville team-mate, bit him on the penis as they frolicked on the grass after a goal.
Facundo Sava, passim - The former Fulham striker had a Zorro fetish, whipping out a superhero mask from his sock after scoring. Which did not happen very often during his spell at Craven Cottage.
Peter Crouch, 2006 - The striker scored the third goal in England's pre-World Cup win over Hungary and his body-popping robot dance celebration was soon all over the internet, a national sensation as we thrilled to the bizarre sight of Strictly Crouch Dancing.
Sign up for our free daily email, weekdays 4pm
what about ronaldo, r carlos etc doing the cockroach seen them do this loads of times while living in madrid...thought it was a bit wierd....also what about 'the king' cantonas celebration when he just stuck his chest out knowing that he was by far the best player in the prem fact:D
Posted by: rory byrne | 4 Jan 2008 12:08:22
Does no one remember the "Paolo Di Canio pushing over the ref" celebration that Ian Wright and Neil Ruddock conjured when they were playing for West Ham? Priceless...
Posted by: Paul | 3 Jan 2008 12:21:44
Gascoigne's flute celebration was possibly the most controversial?
Posted by: Lloyd B | 3 Jan 2008 12:02:56
Which player started the multiple flip combination celebration? The one that Martins, Nani and many others do.
Posted by: Asher Gilani | 3 Jan 2008 11:16:21
Frankly I think the dummy celebration is quite ridiculous.
Posted by: JMAS666 | 3 Jan 2008 10:35:02
Alan Shearer's one-armed salute is so ordinary it is famous.
The player who climbed the fence at a match in Europe and ripped his finger(s) off?
Gabriel Amato's famous pose for Rangers after scoring against Celtc.
Posted by: Kevin | 3 Jan 2008 09:44:11
I was going to say where is Klinsmann?!?!?!
For years and I mean, YEARS all the kids in my school did 'Klinsmanns' after scoring goals. I dont recall ever seeing kids trying to hump the jumpers for cornerflags.
Posted by: John Nejady | 3 Jan 2008 09:03:48
Surely the Jurgen Klinsmann 'diving' celebration whilst he played for Tottenham should be on this list?
Posted by: Scott Benfold | 2 Jan 2008 16:43:43