Remember when scoring a goal for your club or country was for your team? Most players still do, but every now and then a player’s ego gets the better of him. And I’m getting sick of it.
After scoring a goal, some players feel the need to remove their shirt, throw it on the ground and parade in front of their fans in all their upper body glory.
Not only can it be considered time wasting, so much so that FIFA issued a directive that any player doing so will be yellow carded, I find it downright disrespectful to your club.
You should be playing for your shirt and the club whose emblem adorns it. Also the sponsor, who in part pays your wages are denied exposure in highlight shows around the world after your shirt has been dispatched to the grass.
But not only is it disrespectful to your club, it can also land you in hot water for no real reason other than stupidity.
Last season, Cristiano Ronaldo, while playing for Real Madrid, scored a goal to help his team defeat Almeria. It was a tap in but Ronaldo ran off like he had won the World Cup, removing his shirt and waving it around whilst flexing his muscles for the world to admire.
He received a yellow card for his indiscretion. Not five minutes later, he petulantly kicked out at an Almeria player after being dispossessed and rightly received his second yellow card and was sent off.
Now, he was lucky there was only five minutes remaining in the game and it had no bearing on the result, but Real were without him for the next match.
And for what?
All because he wanted to run around like a maniac with his shirt off after scoring a tap in. He had disadvantaged his team for the next match because of his ego.
Bravo.
philip
Guest
Chill out fella. Who cares, its called entertainment. If that gets you all bothered go to church and indulge youself in some conformity.
FREE CELEBRATION
Guest
Let them celebrate the way they like
TheStinger
Roar Rookie
Such as Sasa Ognenovski does for his father.
drew777
Roar Pro
Maybe the significance of pointing to the sky is a lost friend or relative? If someone believes in heaven, then they might point to the 'heavens' to say "Hey, mate, this one was for you."
jimbo
Roar Guru
And of course football players are the only ones in sport with big egos . . .
Simon Smith
Guest
That is completely and utterly correct David V.
Cooter Johnson
Guest
Worse are the goal celebrations suggesting that the goal was overseen by some sort of divine intervention. The likes of Didier Drogba pointing to the heavens insinuating that God wanted him to score that goal. God was watching the football to ensure a multi millionaire African player obtained another piece of glory in order to maintain his ego while ignoring many thousands of his countrymen trying to obtain another piece of bread in order to stay alive. God loves a striker, not much of a fan of goalkeepers though.
David V.
Guest
Me have an ego? No way. The A-League's biggest liability are the arrogant/egotistical teen/adolescent toolies attracted to it.
NY
Guest
I take it than that you're an a-league fan David V.
David V.
Guest
In the A-League, I think fan egos are often bigger than player egos.
TheStinger
Roar Rookie
A player may or may not be "detaching" themselves from the rest of the team on purpose but to some people (and I stress SOME not all) it smacks of individualism in a team sport. Sure, piling on top of the scorer obscures the shirt and the sponsors logo, but this is more about are you part of a team or are you out for yourself. Even if you think some players are making a mockery of a celebration by kissing their badge when you know they are probably leaving in a few weeks for a bigger pay check, I would rather that than the absolute disrespect for the club by throwing your shirt away. Like I said before, your opinion of it is just as valid as mine. It doesn't offend or bother you, that's great. But it does bother me.
mintox
Guest
Why are you trying to make controversy out of nothing? Take your shirt off or leave it on, who cares. I doubt very much that any player, having just scored a goal for his team is taking his shirt off to show his detatchment from the team. If you're going to have a go at someone for celebrating by taking their shirt off, what about those players that stick the club badge between their mouth, maybe you could infer some sort of distaste of the club from that. What about the players who pile up on top of the goal scorer, surely you can find something wrong with that? Maybe they're doing the wrong thing by blocking our view of the all important shirt which identifies the player with his team. Any player who has scored a goal will tell you that scoring a goal is as much about the player as it is about the team so let them have their goal celebrations instead of trying to infer some sort of attempt by the player to distance himself from the team. I've seen as many bad celebrations by player purporting to show their loyalty to the club by kissing the badge when everyone knows they are just a mercenary.
drew777
Roar Pro
I never understood why taking your shirt off made a good celebration. Literally every goal I have scored (even though there have been about 6 in 13 years of football due to being a centre back and defensive midfield player), I have celebrated with my team mates. Having everyone swarm to you is the best feeling, much better than running around on your own with no shirt :S
True Tah
Guest
Personally I prefer the point scoring celebrations in the NFL...at least those guys can actually dance.
TheStinger
Roar Rookie
I guess my biggest gripe is that you are removing the one thing that identifies you with your team. You are setting your self apart from your team-mates and I fail to see the reason. How does one equate being exhuberant and ecstatic over scoring a goal with having to remove your shirt to run around and celebrate it? For me the best celebrations are the ones with the whole team, whether they be choreographed or spontaneous. Even when the goal has been from individual piece of brilliance, you are still playing for a team and for the pride in your shirt. Otherwise you may as well just play by yourself. It's just my opinion, it's not necessarily wrong or right.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Dyron Daal got a yellow card for this on the weekend. But he'd just come on as a substitute and scored the winner with 5 or so mins to go at home..... considering all that had happened to the Fury in the off season I really felt that was one instance where the shirt off crazy clebration was warranted.
dasilva
Guest
TO be honest, I just think the yellow card for taking you shirt off is just a bad rule itself. Let players enjoy their goal. As long as they celebrate with their team mates then taking your shirt off is ok. It demonstrate the spontaneous passion in the game. imagine if Aloisi was on a yellow card against Uruguay. Scored the winning penalty and then after he finish celebrating. The referee gave him another yellow card for taking his shirt off and he gets suspended for the first world cup match against Japan. It would be a farce.
TheStinger
Roar Rookie
I agree totally. In my Ronaldo example, HIguain (I believe it was, my memory is not good these days) did all the hard work and all Ronaldo did was tap the ball in, but he ran off celebrating by himself whilst all of his team-mates ran to Higuain to congratulate him on his work. Promoting yourself as a hero enables you to get more money in the transfer market I guess but as fans of the game, we come to support our TEAM, not just you.
Tom
Guest
I don't care so much about ripping off the shirt, but it bugs me the way players will brush off teammates trying to congratulate them while they run away to perform some kind of little dance they've been carefully rehearsing since the last goal they scored six months ago. Often they're pushing away the same players who set up the goal for them. Not that everyone does it, but no one seems to remark on it when it happens. The A-league is relatively free of all this, thankfully.