Soccer Celebrations- "Meaning & Madness"

Soccer through the years have witness lot of different celebrations, and almost all have originality & some even contains hidden meaning...

Akhil Saxena

When South Africa's World Cup opening day hero Siphiwe Tshabalala came up with a goal celebration where he was joined by several of his Bafana Bafana teammates in a straight line by the corner flag as he swung his arms, fists clenched, to celebrate his brilliant goal it was enough to ignite the the madness and passion of people following this wonderful game and recall various crazy jig that players broke into after scoring a goal. It has become standard for both well known and less known soccer players to have their own goal gestures. There are lot of different celebrations, and almost all have some originality & some even contains hidden meaning.

If a player has just become a father then he either sucks his thumb which was witnessed when Robinho had a new born or  the latest way to celebrate parenthood is sucking on a pacifier as done by Cariltos Tevez. Most popular still remains rocking the arms back and forth, like rocking a baby, It was originated by Bebeto in the 1994 world Cup and is still used by many players. Some players are also seen kissing their ring fingers which means that the goal scored is a salute to their wife. Then there are some celebrations to silence the critics like bringing fingers to the lips, taunting the critics who have suddenly gone silent when a player puts his hand to his ear. Some pays homage to God by pointing towards sky and some pays tribute to their nation by kissing their jersey or running towards the corner flag. There are some celebrations which are just crazy, wild and funny enough to bring a smile on your face and remains in your memory forever. From attacking the mascot to crazy dancing which cannot be decribed by any dancer in this world, players leave no stone unturned in celebrating. Here is a video where you'll find the glimpse of all those celebrations that players indulge into after scoring.

But if you think that only players can be innovative in their celebration then you might have forget the Mexican Wave where successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms and is now a common practice used by fans in not only soccer but every form of game.