Spark a trend, do NOT celebrate against your former club

In the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo not celebrating his winner against former club Manchester United in the round of 16 match of the UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford, lots of pundits have come out expressing their distaste for such emotional attachments, many of them even saying a goal is the most important thing in football and if you score a goal, you earn the right to celebrate.

Taking nothing away from their opinions (of course, they know a lot more than me or you, having kicked the ball around the park a lot more than any of us), but still, we are also entitled to our opinion and I, for one, think whatever Ronaldo did on the night was a brilliant gesture on his part. Especially for a player who has been branded as arrogant, bordering on the obnoxious, the gesture that Ronaldo displayed after scoring what turned out to be decisive goal as well as after the match when he acknowledged the home fans who sang his name as if he was still wearing the United Red was something that will stay with me for a long time(I should mention here that I am a United fan and have been so for over 15 years, and Ronaldo is also my favorite player of the present generation).

But it is not something that he has done for the first time in his career as well. He scored a goal against his former club Sporting Lisbon during his days with United in Portugal and in a manner of almost apology, folded his hands and asked for forgiveness from the home fans. And Ronaldo is not the first person to have done it as well.

Shaun Wright-Phillips wasn’t wanted by Chelsea. They paid a lot of money for him, they paid him a lot of wages… but they ditched him.

And yet when he scored the goal after 78 minutes that gave QPR unlikely hope at the bottom of the table, a goal that brought about the most unlikely result of the season, how did he show his moment of joy? He didn’t.

It was the same with Adam Johnson when he scored an important goal for his struggling new club Sunderland against his oil rich previous employers who didn’t want him, Manchester City.

It is true goal-scoring is the best thing to do, the hardest thing to do. It is the object of the game. But it is untrue that failure to celebrate it is a fake act of respect to a club that sold you.

If you ask me, it is a manner of showing respect to the fans that used to sing your name when you were there at the club, your feelings of loyalty for the club and what it stands for. The club didn’t sell you, it was the decision of the manager and the board and the fans had nothing to do with it.

But the case is not always as easy as it sounds and we all remember how Carlos Tevez revealed his “RIP Fergie” banner after Manchester City had won the league last season. Not only was he being disrespectful towards one of the greatest managers of the modern game but also towards the fans that used to sing his name from the terraces. That attack was uncalled for.

I remember watching a match between Fiorentina and AS Roma back in 2001 when Gabriel Batistuta scored against la Viola and instead of celebrating, he burst into tears. At that time, I didn't realize why he was crying but gradually I learnt what it meant. Feelings of love is something that cannot be sold.

But the trend began long back in the 1970s when Denis Law, a legend at Manchester United swapped the Red for the Blue of City and his goal sent United down to Division II(United would have gone down even if the match finished 0-0). Law didn't celebrate and he was subbed off immediately.

This sense of loyalty is something that has always been there and no matter what the pundits say, I am with the players who prefer not celebrating against their former employers.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the FootballWorld fraternity and represents the personal views of the writer and not of footballworld.co.in.
Posted by Subham Mitra on behalf of FootballWorld.