When Osman Bukari scored for Ghana at World Cup 2022 in the 89th minute of his tournament debut against Portugal, the moment would undoubtedly have been one of the proudest of his life - little did he know he would be heavily criticised on social media for his celebration instead.
Despite only bringing the scores back to 3-2 to Portugal, Bukari sprinted off after bagging past Diogo Costa, understandably overcome with emotion. The forward jumped into the air, spun around and landed with arms outstretched by his sides - reminiscent of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward scored the first goal of the game, and subsequently performed that iconic 'Siu' celebration after dispatching a penalty. He was taken off with the game at 3-1, and, when Bukari replicated that synonymous image, he certainly didn't look too impressed.
Admittedly, it is unclear whether Ronaldo was fuming with his celebration being copied or because Ghana had scored and set up a tetchy final few minutes of the game.
Regardless, Bukari has responded to the criticism he has faced on social media for performing the celebration, largely concentrated on the fact that his goal did nothing to alter the fact that Ghana were still losing.
"I have noticed my celebration today has generated comments claiming I was disrespectful towards Ronaldo," Bukari addressed. "This is incorrect.
"I was overcome by the emotion of the moment of scoring for my country on my World Cup debut leading to my celebration.
"My upbringing doesn’t permit me to be disrespectful to elders let alone one of my idols. Thanks for your support and we focus on our next game."
Ghana face South Korea in their next Group H match on Monday, and need a result if they are to progress to the knockout stages. Their final game of the group stages comes against Uruguay next Friday.
