10 most legendary goal celebrations of all time

After Cristiano Ronaldo whipped out his shirt and held it up in one of this sports most legendary f***-yous after scoring what is most certifiably a screamer to give Real Madrid a 2-1 lead against Barcelona in the Camp Nou (the eventual result was 3-1 to Los Blancos), we take this as the most opportune moment to look back at 10 of the most legendary goal celebrations of all time.

10. Alessandro Florenzi - Grandma's boy

Look at her face - she's so proud, isn't she?

Let's start off with arguably the most heart-warming of them all...

Here's Alessandro Florenzi explaining why he jumped into the stands to go hug his grandmother after scoring Roma's second goal in their 2-0 win over Cagliari in September 2014:

“She is 82 and had never been to the stadium before,” Florenzi told Sky Sport Italia. "This goal is for her. After I played for Italy, she told me that she’d come to the stadium and I would score. My family gave me this passion for football, I want to share my joy with everyone.”

If the sight of a young footballer - a sub species that everyone lambasts for their ego, their disconnect with the real world and their insufferable arrogance - forgetting the risk of a yellow card and a hefty fine to go hug his grandmom doesn't tug at your heartstrings... well, maybe you need those strings tuned

9. Luis Suarez - the Dive of Self-Awareness

To Moyes eternal credit, he didn't back down

You can call Luis Suarez many things... talented footballer, all-out street brawler, the last vampire, serial diver, bonafide match winner... but he is nothing if not gloriously self-aware.

He starred in an Uruguayan advert where he dives, fights, throws tantrums - all while playing the role of an office goer. You don't even need to understand the language to get the obvious humour of this one:

So, when David Moyes said this (look below) before a Merseyside derby:

"I would [be concerned about Suarez] because I think he has got history"

But I am not the referee, I am not the one that [makes decisions]. But I tell you what - it will turn the supporters away from football if they think players are conning their way to results"

"It is generally [Suarez who does this]. I think it is a discussion to be had. I don't think supporters like the idea of players going down easily."

These near slanderous statements obviously infuriated Luis Suarez but his response after smashing in a deflected shot against David Moyes was absolutely brilliant:

This might the most popular "diving" celebration amongst the current generation, but fans of a slighter older one will remember the legendary Jurgen Klinsmann doing it after arriving in England only to be serenaded as the worst serial-diver in the history of sport by opposition fans and the media

8. Andres Iniesta - Tribute to Friendship

'Cos there's nothing quite like friendship

Dani Jarque played at Espanyol's first team for 8 years, rising through the youth ranks to earn 173 caps for the Catalunyan side and earned 36 caps for the various youth teams of the national side but not once earned a senior cap for La Furia Roja. The combative centre-back was named the captain of the side before the 2008-09 season started but tragically passed away before he could play a game with the armband on. He was only 26.

He was also Andres Iniesta's best friend.

The great midfielder went through a harrowing year and a half - suffering emotional and physical distress but recovered in time to make it to the 2010 WC squad for Spain where he so famously scored the only goal of the final to grant Spain their first ever World Cup.

And he celebrated by whipping off his shirt to reveal the message that lay underneath - "Dani Jarque Siempre con Nosotros"... "Dani Jarque, always with us". The sheer beauty of the goal and the awesome momentousness of the occasion served to embellish what was a gloriously heartfelt tribute to that most human of all relations - friendship.

Thank you, Andres. Smile in peace, Dani.

7. Francesco Totti - The Greatest Selfie of All Time

There will never again be anyone like this man.

There's something about seeing a Francesco Totti that warms the cockles of your heart and this celebration crystallized all of it to perfection.

Sunday, the 11th of January: 2-0 down to Lazio in his 40th Derby delle Capitale, Totti scored a superb brace to bring Roma back level, the second a rather spectacular one as he threw himself into the air to hook-smack Jose Holebas' ball across the face of Lazio keeper Federico Marchetti and into the net... as he bounded over the advertisement hoardings to get to his beloved Curva Sud - the plan that he had earlier formulated with Roma's goalkeeping coach came to life (“I gave my phone to [goalkeeping coach] Guido Nanni,” he explained. “I asked him to take it with him when he went out to the pitch.”) and then came arguably the greatest selfie anyone will ever take

“I am not used to doing selfies because I like to keep my private life for myself,” he would explain afterwards. “But this was a unique and unrepeatable occasion because my goals surpassed important players in the history of the derby. This is a moment that everyone will remember.”

Of course, we will remember it, Francesco you legend.

6. Robbie Fowler - A Message of Solidarity

Fowler gets a lot of stick for his most famous celebration - but this is the one that deserves to be remembered

Think Robbie Fowler and goal celebrations and the one image that will automatically float into your brain is that image of him bent over on the Anfield touchline - as if he were snorting a line of cocaine... but that's not the one we've gone for.

As good as a bird-flip as that one was, that's not the most important message he's conveyed on a football field. That honour goes to the celebration he whipped out after scoring in a Cup Winners Cup quarter-final against little-known Norwegian side Brann Bergen. After scoring his second goal of the game, he raised his shirts to show the message etched across his vest - "Support The 500 Sacked Dockers"... it was his way of highlighting the plight of 500 dockers locked out of their jobs by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company of Liverpool after a dispute over working conditions.

When we lambast footballers for being so out-of-touch with the real world, shouldn't we celebrate them when one of them does this:

Footballing officialdom being footballing officialdom, they naturally handed over a hefty fine to the Liverpudlian -

"I pulled down the T-shirt and ran over to all the photographers to have me picture taken," he later reminisced. "I got a stern warning from Uefa and fined about a grand, which was a disgrace when you think how justified the cause was."

Damn right, Robbie

5. Roger Milla - The Dance that wooed a generation

The dance that wooed a generation and more

In the 1990 World Cup and Cameroon took the world by storm with scintillating display after colourfully scintillating display - starting with the opening match where they beat Diego Maradona's defending champions Argentina. While packed with talent throughout their side, the talisman of the side was then 38-year-old, Roger Milla.

He himself couldn't believe he was picked for the tournament in the first place and hardly thought he'd play, but when he did he seized on the opportunity to score 4 goals (just one behind golden boot Salvatore Schillaci) but it was his post-goal celebration that really caught the eye - he'd go to the corner flag and embark on a hip-wiggling dance that for so many people around the world epitomised the sheer joy that Cameroon brought to the world of football.

What made it more beautiful was that it all so spur of the moment -

"It came to me in the moment, in the stadium when I scored that first goal [against Romania]. It was instinct," Milla said. "I couldn't plan it before the tournament because I didn't know if the coach was going to pick me to play, and I didn't know if I was going to score a goal."

4. Cristiano Ronaldo - Calma Calma

Calma! Calma! Papa's got this!

Of course, he celebrated like that yesterday in the Super Copa first leg. If nothing, Ronaldo's career has been devoted to proving to the world that anything Leo Messi can do, he can do better - so when he scored an absolute stunner to give Madrid the lead and silence the Camp Nou, of course, he whipped out his shirt and held it up for the stadium to behold.

But as good as a brilliant "f***- you" as that wasn't his greatest celebration. That honour goes to him asking the 100,000 screaming Barcelona fans inside the Camp Nou to keep their calm... 'cos he's the goddamn King.

And every time he's done it he's just made it look more and more brilliant

3. Lionel Messi - Remember this Name

Look at that shirt stand on end - Leo Messi is magic

2-2 in a Clasico that could determine the fate of the league title... 90 minutes up... the last attack of the game - step up Lionel Andres Messi. We'd seen him celebrate before, so very many times, but we'd never seen anything like this.

He was angry, he was great, and he wanted Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to remember the name of the man who has tormented them like no one else.

For a man who doesn't celebrate with much more than a couple of fingers upstretched, pointing towards the heavens, this one helluva statement of intent.

The most iconic image, though, the one that defines what Messi means to the enthralled mass of Blaugrana fans, though, is not this one... strangely it is for a goal he was not involved with in any way -

Superman (think of that poster) eat your heart out

2. Marco Tardelli - Joy Unbound

Marco Tardelli is on his way....

Football in its purest form is an endeavour to create joy out of thin air, very rarely do we succeed in it - but the endeavour in itself is worth it.

So when Marco Tardelli scored Italy's second goal in the 1982 World Cup final against West Germany... with just 21 minutes to go... he went absolutely crazy. It didn't happen all of a sudden though - he started by simply jogging back up the pitch, but slowly it transitioned to a full-blown meltdown which involved fists pumping wildly, head flailing about even more wildly and tears streaming down his face... it was like he couldn't believe what he had just done... Score. what could be the winning goal. in the world cup final.

It's exactly what any fan would have done if he'd been in Tardelli's shoes... it's the genuineness of the whole thing that makes it so endearingly memorable.

Fabio Grosso performed an ersatz tribute in the 2006 Semifinals (against the same opponent incidentally) and while some have said he was merely imitating Tardelli's famous celebration, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt: he'd just put his country in the World Cup Final for crying out loud!

Honourable Mentions

Wayne Rooney delivers the knock-out blow

Before we get to no. 1, we have to pay tribute to some of the funniest celebrations we have seen:

Wayne Rooney - Knockout

He was trolled by millions, and the back-pages (some front-pages too) after getting knocked out by Phil Bardsley in his own kitchen... so the weekend after the video leaked, he did this.... Ladies and Gentlemen, there's only Wayne Rooney:

Diego Forlan - just the most epic thing you'll ever see

Seriously, just watch the video - you'll not regret it.

Peter Crouch - THE Robot

Of course, the greatest exponent of the greatest dance form on the planet:

Jimmy Bullard - The Phil Brown

After having to suffer the cringe of having to be lectured on the Old Trafford pitch at half time by their coach Phil Brown... of course, Jimmy Bullard celebrated like this when he scored in the following season:

Mario Balotelli - "Why always me?"

Words need to be used. Just enjoy the pure joy of Mario Balotelli -

1. Eric Cantona - All Hail the King

Poetry in motion

It's 1996. Manchester United ruled England, and there was just one man responsible for it... The King knew he was King, and he didn't let anyone forget that did he?

Nothing epitomizes Eric Cantona quite like this one against Sunderland in 1996:

A pretty little turn in the middle - with that balletic grace that belies his size - a power surge straight through the middle, a lovely one-two with Brian McLair and a chip of utterly preposterous arrogance that floats (all great chips float through the air, don't they?) right into the top corner.

And then the celebration.

Oh! the celebration.

He stands there admiring his handiwork, and as soon as the ball hits the net starts a slow 360-degree turn as he soaks in the adoration of his Old Trafford congregation before raising his arms in acknowledgment.

Words do little justice: