Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Top 5 World Cup Goal Celebrations

A friend recently asked me about my top 5 world cup goal celebrations. This is an interesting topic, as I think a particular celebration is very much connected to the feeling of the fan himself when the goal was scored. For instance, I vividly remember Brian Laudrup's celebration when he scored against Brazil in the WC 1998 quarterfinal.
But I think I have come to my own personal top-5 of celebrations that are stuck in my football-fanatic mind:

5) Diego Armando Maradona in WC 1994, when he scored against Greece. It was with much anger and releif he went towards the camera screaming. I personally felt "The Greatest is back"...

4) Roger Milla from Cameroon did a little dance by the corner flag after scoring in WC 1990 against Romania (this was the first time, although he did it later), really underlined the happiness of playing of this "grand old man"!

3) Liliam Thuram from France, in the semifinal against Croatia in WC 1998. He had never scored on the national team, and scored two goals, to bring France in the final. When scoring, sat down with a hand to his face and looked thoughtful. Indeed a very arrogant but charming Frenchman!

2) Bebeto , from Brazil in the quarterfinal against the Netherlands in WC 1994, when he did the little "wiggle the baby" dance with Romario. It has been done since, but it was the first time, and was kinda cool back then.

1) Marco Tardelli from Italy, when scoring the second goal against West Germany in the 1982 WC Final. I will never forget Mr. Tardelli's face, in complete euphoria, as the camera focused right on him, running screaming towards his teammates! It seemed like an out-of-body experience, and I am sure it must have been

I would really like to hear opinions on this though!

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