Goal celebration

In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst referring to the celebration of a goal in general, the term can also be applied to specific actions, such as a player removing their shirt or performing a somersault. Celebrations are generally more substantial in lower-scoring sports, such as association football and ice hockey, where a score has greater significance.
Many goal celebrations have been immortalised, such as in a statue (Thierry Henry and Bobby Orr), advertisements (Ronaldo), postage stamps (Pelé), magazine covers, or in video games: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi among many others are featured in the FIFA series.
A goal song or goal celebration music is a short piece of music that is played in sports like football or ice hockey after a goal is scored. A goal horn sometimes sounds before the song is played, especially in the National Hockey League (NHL).
One such song is Bellini's "Samba de Janeiro", which was used as the goal song in UEFA Euro 2008. Van Halen's "Jump" is played every time A.C. Milan scores a goal at the San Siro. "Song 2" by Blur is played at some German and Austrian clubs. In North America, "Rock and Roll (Part Two)" by the Glitter Band is commonly played. Donbas Arena, the home ground of Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk, has a tradition of playing music each time home players score goals, with a track corresponding to the nationality of a scorer. For example, "Sabre Dance" by the Armenian Aram Khachaturian was played whenever his compatriot Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored. When FC Bayern Munich score a goal in the Allianz Arena, the Can-can plays.
In ice hockey, the use of goal songs is very common. Prior to 2012, a goal by the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, on home ice, was followed by U2's "Vertigo". The New York Rangers play the song "Slapshot", which was written by Ray Castoldi, the music director at Madison Square Garden. The Chicago Blackhawks and Nottingham Panthers play "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis after every home goal.
According to the rules of the games (Law 12):
In recent seasons, FIFA have attempted to crack down on some of the more enthusiastic celebrations. If a player incites the crowd, jumping into the stands, and/or takes their shirt off or puts the ball under their shirt to indicate a pregnancy after scoring a goal, they are likely to get booked by the referee. This can cause huge controversy if the player has already been booked, since they would then be sent off. However, some players get around this rule by pulling the hem of their shirts over the head, without taking the shirt off entirely, but this is not always overturned by the referees. Some players have received fines for dropping their shorts after scoring.
Jumping into the crowd is also a bookable offence on the category of ("Deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission", as identified in Law 12).
Players might be also fined for revealing T-shirts which contain some kind of message directed to the spectators. Notable examples include Robbie Fowler being fined for showing a T-shirt that was designed to show support for the Liverpool dockers' strike, incorporating the Calvin Klein "CK" into the word doCKer; and Thierry Henry, who was fined by UEFA after he removed his Arsenal shirt to reveal a T-shirt reading "For the new-born Kyd", which was directed to his friend, Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri, who had just given birth. In 1999, Robbie Fowler was also fined £60,000 by his club and the Premier League for having celebrated his penalty goal against Everton by getting down on all fours and miming the snorting of cocaine off of the white touchline. Although it was seen as Fowler's response to being accused of drug abuse in the tabloid press, then-manager Gérard Houllier famously claimed that he was merely imitating "a cow eating grass".
In January 1998, Rangers midfielder Paul Gascoigne courted serious controversy during a goal celebration where he mimed playing a flute (symbolic of the flute-playing of Loyalist Orange Order marchers) during a game against Celtic at Celtic Park. The gesture infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. He also received a death threat from an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member following the incident.
Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tevez was sent off for imitating a chicken when celebrating a goal against arch-rivals River Plate during the 2004 Copa Libertadores, clearly mocking the opposition crowd, with River called 'Gallinas' ('chickens') by other fans for choking late on.
Paolo Di Canio made his mark in 2005, when during his period at Lazio, he made a fascist salute to the right-wing fans. He was fined and suspended as a result.
Ipswich Town player David Norris received a fine after using a handcuff gesture to celebrate scoring against Blackpool in November 2008, dedicating the goal to ex-teammate Luke McCormick, who was jailed for death by dangerous driving. Everton midfielder Tim Cahill received a similar fine for a similar gesture in a match on 2 March 2008. A similar incident took place in Chelsea against Middlesbrough, when Chelsea's Salomon Kalou scored a brace and thereafter crossed hands with Ivorian teammate Didier Drogba. It was later revealed, however, that he claimed to have wanted to try out a new celebration and was not supporting an Ivorian convictionist.
In a 2009 Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal, Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor received a yellow card for running the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the Arsenal fans. This was seen as controversial because Adebayor signed for Manchester City that summer from Arsenal.
In March 2013, AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis made a Nazi salute towards the crowd after scoring the winning goal against Veria. Though he later said he did not realise the meaning of the gesture, Katidis was fined €50,000, banned from playing for AEK for the remainder of the season, and given a lifetime ban from representing Greece at the international level.
West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka was banned for five games and fined for celebrating a goal scored in December 2013 with a quenelle. While there was controversy with the gesture being linked to anti-Semitism, Anelka was cleared of being anti-Semitic or endorsing anti-Semitism.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Xherdan Shaqiri and fellow Swiss goalscorer Granit Xhaka, who is also of Kosovar descent, celebrated their goals by making an eagle gesture, a symbol of ethnic Albanians, towards Serbian fans. FIFA fined Xhaka and Shaqiri 10,000 Swiss francs "for unsporting behaviour contrary to the principles of fair-play".
At the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, in the round of 16 match, Iraq national team player Aymen Hussein was sent off with a second yellow card in the 77th minute after celebrating the second goal against the Jordan national team, where he celebrated as if he was eating from a plate (referring to Mansaf, the most famous dish in Jordan) in front of the Jordan national team fans. In a later statement, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed that the referee's decision was correct and considered the celebration excessive.
Refusing to celebrate a goal or undertaking muted goal celebrations is not unknown and not uncommon in football. In the case of the former, it is often seen when a player scores against a former club, especially one where the player began his career and/or had his greatest period of success, or where he first made his name. Non-celebration against former clubs does seem to be a fairly recent trend, however. There are several recorded examples of players celebrating against their old club prior to the 2000s, when this practice started to become regarded as disrespectful. Conversely, not celebrating a goal for your current side could be considered somewhat strange. Goalkeepers who score goals via a long kick that is perhaps taken by the wind or evades the opposition goalkeeper upon bouncing on the pitch may not celebrate, as a mark of respect to the opposition goalkeeper.
Muted celebration usually occurs when scoring a consolation goal in a match that is otherwise already lost; celebration may be omitted entirely if there is not enough time left on the clock and the losing team wants the match to continue as soon as possible. It also occurs when a large number of goals have been scored by one team in a match, and the result has been put beyond doubt; for later goals, celebrations might be reduced or non-existent.
In ice hockey, it is seen as good etiquette not to celebrate a goal made on an empty net where the goaltender has been pulled, due to the vulnerability of the opposing team and the lack of challenge.
While unusual, a number of football players have injured themselves during celebration: examples include Paulo Diogo (who severed a finger after it got caught in a fence), Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Fabián Espíndola, (who celebrated a goal that was later disallowed due to offside) and Michy Batshuayi. An Indian footballer, Peter Biaksangzuala, died from a spine injury in 2014 following a failed somersault celebration.
Nicolai Muller once injured himself while celebrating scoring a goal against FC Augsburg when he spun around repeatedly in a "helicopter" style which had until that point been his trademark celebration. Medical examination confirmed that the striker had ruptured the ACL in his right knee. He was out of action for 10 months, and after his team was relegated, he left the club.
Managers (and coaching staff) have been known for their exuberant goal celebrations. Some notable celebrations include: