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Goals. The true source of all celebrations in football. Except for very rare cases, goals display the most joyous part of human emotion. As soon as the balls hits the net, the goalscorer runs off to a world of his own. For that particular moment, he is the king of the world – at least he feels like one. That the whole world has stopped to witness his delight.
Each player has his own way of celebrating a goal. Some open their arms and embrace nature while some kiss a particular tattoo on their arm. These days, players take selfie after scoring – such is the diversity when it comes to celebrating a goal.
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And here are 12 trademark celebrations of superstars.
1) Gareth Bale – 11 of Hearts
He loves this celebration so much that he actually trademarked it under his name. After scoring, he makes the heart shape with his hands – displaying his love to his wife and daughter.
Recently, he hasn’t got the chance to use this as much as he would have liked. A dry spell in front of goals has prompted Real Madrid fans to boo him and the only thing he could make up now is a hand-shape for a broken heart.
2) Juan Cuadrado – Exotic dance
Juan Cuadrado is a highly talented player known for many things like versatility, work-ethic, flair, creativity and celebrating style. In the World Cup, he and James Rodriguez rocked the pitch with awesome dance moves to celebrate goals.
Some might despise it, but the Colombian’s celebration style brings smiles to many faces around the world. He hasn’t yet celebrated with Chelsea and fans would love to see to him pull off some dance moves in a Blue shirt.
3) Raul Gonzalez – Kissing the ring finger
Real Madrid’s greatest goalscorer ever can easily be picked out among a huge crowd of players because of his unique celebration. In a career that has produced more than 400 competitive goals, he celebrated almost every one of them by kissing the ring finger on his right-hand in honour of his wife, Mamen Sanz.
Spaniards wear the ring on the right hand and hence Raul is always seen kissing his right after scoring a goal. It represents his deep love and affection for his spouse and we hope that it remains like this forever.
4) David Silva – Kissing the wrist
At the age of 15, David Silva lost his cousin named Cynthia to cancer – she was only 5 years old. It hurt him a lot, so much so that he imprinted a tattoo of her name on his left wrist to honour her memory.
And this is why, every time he scores, he kisses the name on his wrist to dedicate the goal to his cousin – whom he loved very dearly. Silva is now the godfather to Cynthia’s younger sister Joana and it is a true indication of the affection he shares for his family members and relatives.
5) Tim Cahill – Boxing with the corner flag
One of the most unique and weirdest celebration is that of Australian football legend, Tim Cahill. The former Everton man was one of their most celebrated players and a nightmare for the corner flags.
After scoring a goal, he would run to the corner and flag and punch it like a boxer would. One could argue that the corner flag isn’t really a worthy opponent to box with, but who wouldn’t want to box something that doesn’t box back?
6) Kevin Nolan – Chicken Dance
It is not easy to please the Toon army, especially with goal celebrations, but former star Kevin Nolan is an exception in this case.
The West Ham man scored 29 league goals for the Magpies and celebrated almost all of them with his famous and funny chicken dance. Some might say that it is kiddish of him to do so, but honestly, we never really become adults – just big kids. And Nolan is just that.
7) Robbie Keane – Cartwheel, roll and firing pistols
Robbie Keane is so attentive about his celebration that he, in his own words, finds it “annoying” when any of his team-mates come in the middle and disrupt his three-fold celebration act.
It starts with a cartwheel which is followed by a forward roll and then ended with what seems like firing a pair of make-shift pistols. It’s like he wants to follow the 3-acts of a magic: the pledge, the turn and the prestige and doesn’t like it when he is interrupted. Talk about being serious on celebrations!
8) Nani – Backflip
Talk about risky goal celebrations and the Portuguese’s name would appear at the top of the list. Nani just loves to do a graceful backflip after scoring. Since he doesn’t score many, we don’t often get to see the swan-like divinity of this celebration.
He is so obsessed with it that Sir Alex Ferguson told him to stop celebrating like that due to the hazards it brings with it. But Nani chose to leave Manchester United than listen to his former manager. That is how much he loves a backflip.
9) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Spiderman mask
Most of us just love comic-book heroes, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s love for them is just on another level. After almost each time he scores a goal, he does a Spiderman celebration by wearing a mask and shows us how much he loves his superheroes.
In fact, he also did a Batman celebration, taking Reus for his sidekick as Robin – after scoring against bitter rivals Schalke. Guess we won’t have a tough time in figuring out what posters the Gabon internationals has plastered on the walls of his room.
10) Daniel Sturridge – Break Dance
Daniel Sturridge was always seen as a talented forward, but it wasn't until his move to Liverpool that it came to fruition. With more goals came more chances to celebrate and with that, another talent of his came into display: dancing.
After scoring a goal, Sturridge shows the crowd that he has what it takes to win a season at the So You Think You Can Dance reality show. Apart from teaching his own teammates his move, of course.
11) Lionel Messi – Tribute to his grandmother
We’ve all seen Messi celebrate with two fingers pointing to the sky as he looks up. So why does he do it?
"I am doing this because I dedicate my goals to my grandmother. She took to me to football but now she can't see how far I have come. Nevertheless, she continues to help me and my family,”
With Barca rampaging through all competitions, it is most likely that the Argentine will win his fifth Ballon d’Or for his performances this year and he knows who to thank for it.
12) Cristiano Ronaldo – Chest inflation
It is hard to give a name to the celebration style of the reigning Ballon d’Or winner. He has had various celebration styles over the years, but it is the current one we will emphasize on.
The flow of goals from his boots is smooth and constant and hence we get to see this more often: running towards the crowd, jumping as high and doing a 180-degree turn while he is in the air and falling with his boots on the ground and his chest out and arms swept back – as if his body would explode if he put a little more pressure on them.
His celebration represents him perfectly: the amount of exertion he puts into everything he does.
