Callum Hudson-Odoi knows exactly what he wants to do.
He made it 2-1 with a brilliant curling strike against his former club Chelsea for Nottingham Forest. He then walked to the sidelines, stopped, and pointed his index finger to his temple, meaning "no outside noise."
Is it in response to the Chelsea fans who have criticised him? Or is it just a symbol of an improvement in his mental state in the forest? Who knows? But Callum Hudson-Odoi wants to make his point heard.
On the other hand, Chelsea's Raheem Sterling may have felt it.
In February, Chelsea played away at his former club Manchester City, and the fans booed him as soon as he received the ball. Later, he scored to make it 1-0. He turned away, seemingly reveling in the moment, and then seemed to raise his hands – not necessarily apologetically, but more like, "Let's calm down." He then clenched his fists in a low-key manner and was embraced by his teammates.
How footballers celebrate when scoring against their former club may seem like a trivial matter of etiquette, but one that many are grappling with. Is it disrespectful to celebrate and bask in the discontent of the fans of the old club? Or does it not matter at all, a goal is a goal, and your first duty is to show respect for the fans of the current team by sharing the joy with them, rather than showing your "respect" to the fans who might boo you anyway?
At the end of the 1973-74 season, Manchester City won 1-0 against Manchester United, and the only goal of the game brought Dennis Law on his back, and he felt that he had relegated Manchester United, who had been with him for 11 years. Law's goal wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back, as United would have been relegated no matter what the outcome of that game was, but Law's little was unaware of that at the time.
He bowed his head and shoulders and was substituted for the last goal of his career. In 2012, Lowe was asked how long his regret about that goal had lasted, and he said: "How long ago was that game? That's the answer you want. ”
In 2009, Manchester City striker Bam Adebayor scored past Arsenal and famously slid to his knees after a long sprint – perhaps the Premier League's most famous goal celebration.
Adebayo felt that the fans were racist and abusive towards his family and greeted his female relatives.
He told the Daily Mail in 2019: "If a sniper shoots at me, he won't knock me down. I was completely in my own world...... They scolded too much, and I was ready to die. I looked at them and thought, 'There are some things you can't do. ’”
Something similar happened to Ian Wright. Wright scored for Arsenal in 1992 when some Crystal Palace fans complained about him at the time. A few years later, Wright said: "I celebrated the goal because the Crystal Palace fans hated me so much at the time. So I celebrated...... Celebrate. ”
Search what Crystal Palace fans sang that day to spray Wright, and you can understand his anger. Wright said the song was "lewd," which was too much of an understatement.
Other times, players celebrate scoring against their former club for more positive reasons. For example, Rob Earnshaw, who moved from Derby County to fellow-city Nottingham Forest in 2008. A few seasons later, he scored a goal for Forest in a derby, and not only did he do somersaults to celebrate as usual, but he was also sent off for a long time in front of the crowd. ”
He did it on purpose. "When I scored the goal, I thought: 'I'm going to celebrate for as long as I can.' "Halfway through the celebration, I knew the referee was coming and he said, 'Hey, okay, let's get on with the game.'" But I was like, 'Where is this, I don't listen to him, I don't listen to anything, what does it matter to me if I don't kick off, I'm going to stay here and celebrate this moment with the fans.'" ’”
For Earnshaw, it's not so much about celebrating his old club goal as it is about sharing the joy of his current club's fans. "That's what football is all about," he said. "That's what these games are all about."
Many people take the opposite view, believing that it is disrespectful to celebrate against their former club. When Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Real Madrid in 2013, his expression was like crashing his father-in-law's car, and he was deeply apologetic, as if he was traumatized by what he had done.
Frank Lampard had joined Manchester City on an interim basis in 2014, mainly to maintain his form before joining Manchester City satellites New York City, so he never expected to play Chelsea again, let alone score against them. So when he does it, he doesn't know what to do at all.
"I was really a little overwhelmed," he said afterwards, "and I didn't expect to score a goal when I got on the pitch." ”
Batistuta played for Filorin for nine years, scoring 203 goals, before leaving in 2000 to join Florence. Later, he scored for Roma in the Fiorentina goal, and when the ball went into the net, his expression looked like he had smashed an antique vase from the Ming Dynasty, and he stared blankly into the middle and distance, while his teammates celebrated wildly around him.
He said afterwards: "I tried to describe my feelings, it didn't make sense, it was my personal feelings. After the goal, feeling the hug of my teammates, I thought about the emotions of the Purple Lily fans, and this is also my emotion. I spent 9 years in Florence, where my 3 sons were born, and these are indelible. ”
Van Persie is also a good example. Robinhero faced his former club Arsenal for the first time since his move to Manchester United in 2012, scoring within minutes of the game, and he was very flamboyant in his apology. Then, that season, he scored again against his old club and celebrated wildly, apparently believing that one pure respect would be enough.
Sturridge did not celebrate after scoring against Bolton Wanderers in 2011 after he had spent a few months on loan at Porto earlier that year. He felt that he should pay the highest tribute to a team that had only played 12 games, and that thought drew some ridicule, but we have to consider the specifics of the situation.
After moving to Chelsea from Manchester City the year before, Sturridge's career came to a slight halt – scoring just one goal in 26 league appearances (mostly as substitutes) in two seasons.
But after a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers in January 2011, he immediately became a regular in the team, scoring eight goals in 12 games that season. Despite his contract with Chelsea, his few months at Bolton were arguably a turning point in his career, so from that point of view, you can understand why he didn't want to celebrate.
However, it may not be so easy to understand players who don't celebrate scoring goals for teams they have never played for. Haaland, for example, had a lackluster reaction after scoring against Leeds United, citing the fact that his father, Alfie, had played for Leeds United.
'I thought about it before the game, I didn't want to celebrate,' he said afterwards, 'I have a lot of respect for Leeds, I was born there and my whole family was in the stands. As a kid I had a Leeds shirt with Eric Barker on the back and a Manchester City shirt with my father's name on it. ”
Compared to Wes Hurahan, the logic still makes sense. Jurahan's apparent mood after scoring for Norwich City against Aston Villa appears to be linked to his failed move to Villa earlier that season. Hurahan, who has not played much time at Norwich, has made a transfer request in an unsuccessful attempt to force a move to Villa.
He told Norwich at the time: "My celebration was certainly not meant to be disrespectful to anyone. I'm sorry if anyone misunderstands what I mean. ”
The notion that goals are not celebrated is not limited to club games either. How will Declan Rice and Jack Grealish react after scoring against Ireland? They both represented Ireland at youth level. We can see how Breel Embolo, the Swiss striker, was born in Cameroon and the two national teams met at the 2022 World Cup.
He scored a goal, didn't celebrate, saying: "I've always said that the game in Cameroon is important to me on an emotional level. I also said that I am happy and proud to represent the Swiss team. I know if I score, out of respect, I won't celebrate. But that doesn't mean I'm unhappy. ”
When a player scores against his current club, it tends to be more difficult to do. In most leagues, including the Premier League, there are rules prohibiting loanees from playing against their parent clubs, but the Bundesliga does not include this. So when Croatian full-back Stanišić, who is on loan at Bayer Leverkusen from Bayern Munich, scored the Bayern goal, he was conflicted. "As happy as I am, I'm also guilty." "Out of respect, I didn't celebrate. ”
Morientes didn't seem to be so bothered at the time when he scored for his parent club Real Madrid in the 2003/04 Champions League for Monaco. Maurientes scored in both legs, goals that helped Monaco knock Real Madrid out of the tournament.
Finally, the most interesting example may be Chris Maguire, who made more than 100 appearances for Sunderland, but at the end of the 2020-21 season, Sunderland did not renew his contract and he subsequently signed for Lincoln City.
Maguire not only scored against his former club, but also scored a hat-trick. After scoring the first goal, he raised his hands to apologize to the fans for a few seconds, then ran to the sidelines to celebrate passionately in front of veteran coach Lee Johnson.
Maguire said: 'I loved my time at Sunderland but as you can see from the celebrations, I was more about demonstrating to the manager. I still have old team-mates at Sunderland and I told them that if I scored, I would do something.
'After the first goal, I was paying tribute to the fans, not about them and the club, but about the manager personally. I felt like I wasn't getting the opportunity I deserved. ”
Harry Maguire scored two more goals from behind. After scoring the 2nd goal, he raised his hands again to apologize, and after scoring the 3rd goal, he looked overwhelmed.
Back to Hudson-Odoi and Raheem Sterling. It's hard to say how to celebrate after scoring a goal against his former club, is it a graceful gesture not to celebrate, a show of respect for the opponent, or a pointless posturing in an overly serious game?
This may seem extremely silly, but we shouldn't completely ignore the complex emotions that can be triggered in a moment of excitement.