The 10 best celebrations: Dives, dogs, death and dirty deeds

1) Ryan Giggs vs Veet

Even Giggsy himself refers to "the rug" when reminiscing about his iconic chest-baring during the 1999 FA Cup Semi-Final. In fairness, he had good reason to let it all out after his glorious solo winner against Arsenal sent Manchester United through to the final. "Sometimes it’s hard to control yourself," he later admitted to FFT. "I lost all feeling at the time and I just decided to whip my top off to go and celebrate. A few people gave me a bit of stick for my hairy chest but I just about got away with it because the goal was such a good one." Amen to that. 

2) Jimmy Bullard vs Phil Brown

Club jester Jimmy Bullard provided the chuckles with his Phil Brown micky-taking at Manchester City in 2009, in honour of his manager's bizarre on-pitch team talk of the previous campaign. Luckily for Tigers players, their pre-meditated plan was able to unfold after Bullard tucked away an 82nd-minute penalty in the 1-1 draw. Sadly for them, boss Brown didn't even see it. "I actually missed the celebration at the time because I was trying to do a bit of a tactical re-jig," claimed the tanned Tynesider. "I only saw it when our analysis guy showed it to me on the laptop at the end of the game." Wasted. 

3) Diego Maradona vs Klinsmann

Up next is Diego Maradona bringing you the famous Thank-God-For-That. It tends to come at a vital point in a match, and its key practitioners are hotheaded maniacs who don’t give a monkeys about losing their cool. El Diego was never a mild-mannered celebrator as a player, and his managerial joy was equally unconfined when Argentina scored against Peru in 2010, upon which he performed a jump-and-slide onto his belly that was as perfectly executed as most of his dribbles.

Skip to 17 secs for Diego's swallow dive

4) Stjarnan vs Captain Birdseye

Passion and spontaneity have made for some of football's most iconic celebrations, but it's hard not to admire some carefully tuned choreography. Johann Laxdall helped put former club Stjarnan on the map in 2010, when the Icelandic side's fisherman routine went viral. 

"I think a goal celebration means more if it has a bit of meaning to it," he told FFT. "We came up with it after one of the boys had been a fishing trip with his father. People were always saying to us ‘it must take hours to put these things together’ but it didn’t – in fact we didn’t practice at all, we just made sure that everyone knew their role. By the end we had people from around the world sending us celebration ideas, it was crazy." Since then they've managed to squeeze in bikes, rowing boats and ballroom dancing. 

5) Cristiano Lucarelli vs inhibitions

Journeyman striker Cristiano Lucarelli’s love of hometown club Livorno is no secret: he’s got the tattoo, is pals with the ultras, and rejected several lucrative offers to stay with the Amaranto. Loving the shirt is one thing, but making love to it? After netting against Piacenza in 2007, he took off his jersey, laid it carefully on the turf, and proceeded to commit what a court of law might call “a lewd act” upon it. We get the point, Luca...

6) Facundo Sava vs fashion

When Fulham boss Jean Tigana splashed £2m on a little-known Argentine in 2002, Cottagers fans didn't have much idea of what to expect. What they might have anticipated, though, was the striker's fabled goal celebration – a Zorro mask pulled from his sock. Sava didn't whip out the headgear for his first goal, a dramatic late leveller against Middlesbrough, on account of leaving his 250-strong collection back home in Argentina. It'd take him another eight games before he could against Charlton, but he saved his best for a brace against Liverpool with a custom-made Cottagers mask (below). Aww.

7) Finidi George vs K-9

There’s nothing not to like about a man pretending to be a dog, and Nigeria’s Finidi George did the definitive impression having popped home a sublime chip against Greece at USA '94. He falls to his knees, waddles along on all fours, and then cocks a leg to mark his territory. No explanation has ever been offered, and for us, none is required.

8) Nani vs gravity

They don't always go to plan (as Celestine Babayaro and Lomana LuaLua have both discovered), but there's much to enjoy about an acrobatic celebration. And there aren't too many who can pull one off better than Manchester United wingman Nani, whose cartwheel-backflip is quite the sight. Even former Great Britain gymnast Beth Tweddle was impressed, giving the Portuguese preener a 9/10 in our latest issue. "He’s streets ahead of the rest," purred the retired flexer. "I’m guessing he has some kind of gymnastic background because his technique is good too. He has a variety of elements in his round-off full twist but he does them with ease."

9) Martin Palermo vs concrete

Villarreal forward Martin Palermo could hardly foresee the impending doom as he slotted home a late winner for El Submarino Amarillo against Levante in a 2001 Copa del Rey fixture. The Argentine sprinted up to his delirious supporters, who were pouring towards a small concrete wall – which promptly collapsed. Palermo broke his leg in two places, was out for a couple of months and lost form, missing the 2002 World Cup as a result. No wonder they called him Loco.

10) Medina & De La Mora vs morals

Can a goal celebration be used as a piece of haunting commentary about man’s inhumanity to man? The answer, of course, is no, which is why Chivas Guadalajara players Alberto Medina and Marco Fabian de la Mora were ill-advised to perform a mock gangland execution in a country ripped apart by drug-cartel violence. The berks, who were in the process of beating Estudiantes 5-2 in October 2011, were heavily fined, and made an apologetic donation to an orphanage.