TOP 5 AFRICAN PLAYER GOAL CELEBRATIONS

JULIUS AGHAHOWA - KOREA/JAPAN 2002

Julius Aghahowa did achieve much fame and fortune as a footballer for Nigeria and a host of European clubs but considering his fairly impressive acrobatic skills, he might as well have tried out his abilities for an Olympic medal in gymnastics or some other disciplines. All his goals were celebrated with a summersault. Of all the instances, though, the most archetypal was that which he pulled off an astonishing sequence of seven flips in his country's second game at the 2002 World Cup versus Sweden in the aftermath of delivering a peach of a header in the 27th minute past Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Hedman. 

Granted, Aghahowa is hardly the only proponent of the flip act. Over the years we have come to appreciate the not-too-dissimilar crafts of the likes of Chris Katongo (Zambia) and Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria). For most of us, however, the Benin City native was the earliest, and arguably the finest advocate of the said move, with the performance against the Swedes particularly standing out. No highlight reel of Aghahowa's career would be truly complete without it.  

ROGER MILLA - ITALIA 90

For a long time, goal celebrations were merely a routine act for a goal scorer, nothing really special. However, that was all to change significantly, when at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, a then little-known 38-year old mustachioed Cameroonian arrived on the global scene to show the world exactly how it ought to be

done. Albert Roger Mooh Milla, for starters, did not even merit his place on the team per the standards of the national team selectors (he was actually retired at the time) and only had his place on the team vetoed at the last-minute by Cameroon's Head-of-State Paul Biya. Thus, for him to come to the tournament under such circumstances and steal the limelight with his performances as with his now legendary dance was nothing short of amazing. 

Milla was, by a distance, the oldest player at the tournament and, in the view of most of his critics, at least a decade past his prime. Still, Milla was able to mark his appearances - mostly from the bench - with four goals, including a memorable one against Colombia that brilliantly exploited a horrible gaffe by the show-boating opposition goalkeeper Rene Higuita. He marked each of those goals with a splendid hip-swinging, foot-twitching, belly-wiggling dance by the corner-flag so energetic you would expect it from someone at least 15 years younger -  the 'Makossa’ they called it. 

FINIDI GEORGE - USA 94

Finidi George was as elegant a footballer as any, with his slender, graceful gazelle-like movement and all, yet the one instance the 1995 Champions League winner would be remembered the most for was one that smacked of anything but class. Nigeria were playing Greece in a group game at the summer World Cup of 1994 in the United States, and George had just scored a goal of rare beauty, picking the ball just outside the area and chipping it over the Greek keeper Adonis Minous. 

In celebration of his wonder-strike, George made a dash for the corner-flag, leaving spectators wondering if he was going to do a simple knee-slide -or perhaps a 'Milla'. Well, neither, as it turned out; instead, George went down on all fours, moved some distance forward in that posture, and slightly raised one limb to mimick a urinating dog! Even as he did so, eyebrows were raised as those who observed, fans and team-mates alike, seemed lost in deciphering exactly what message George intended to convey with that most unusual choice of celebration.

ASAMOAH GYAN - SOUTH AFRICA 2010

The striker was in fine goal-scoring form at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, as he was in great dancing mood to compliment the former. At the tournament, Gyan treated the world to his lively, eye-catching goal celebrations, enacting a dance that Ghanaian readers would identify as the 'Azonto', albeit a crude form of the original. That he scored against three of Ghana's five opponents at the competition meant he had ample opportunity to exhibit his skills in that regard. Too bad he missed that last-minute penalty against the Uruguayans in the quarters that would afforded the world another chance to watch the king of dance do what he loves doing after scoring.     

RASHID YEKINI - USA 94

Sometimes the best goal celebrations are not necessarily those pre-meditated or elaborately choreographed. Occasionally we are treated to one that reveals what most of us seek in a proper goal celebration: raw, unbridled, unfeigned emotion. Perhaps the most memorable example of such in the history of African football, we turn to another Nigerian, 1994 African Player of the Year and record Super Eagles goal scorer, Rashid Yekini. The goal that prompted the celebration itself - a simple tap-in from a Finidi George cross, scored on June 21 of 1994 - was not in itself a thing of exceptional beauty.
Rather, it was perhaps the realisation that hit him a split-second later that he had just scored Nigeria's maiden World Cup goal that moved him to celebrate the way he did - following the ball into the goal and grabbing a chunk of the twine, glancing skywards, and screaming out in a mixture of emotions. It was a poignant sight if there ever was one. Yekini - who passed away regretfully earlier this year - might have achieved a lot in his illustrious career, but that single moment, brief as it was, would stand out as his most enduring memory.

Source: Goal.com