It’s the 1990 World Cup. Roger Milla, player for Cameroon, has less than fifteen minutes to defeat Romania. At ’76 (the 76th minute) he shoots, and scores. Cameroon fans all over the world cheer as he runs to the corner flag and performs soccer’s pioneer victory dance. This first act of “show boating” skyrockets him to World Cup fame, and a new trend in sports begins.
Show boating has become increasingly popular in soccer since its start in the 90’s. The trend has even reached the Mariemont High School Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team. Lakmal Ekanayaka, sophomore at MHS, has been known to celebrate after each goal.
“I beat my chest while my teammates celebrate with me,” he explains, “sometimes I point to my team name on the jersey toward the crowd.”
Dancing, however, is not the only thing way the team celebrates scoring, as senior player Paulo Bezerra explains.
“I run around,” says Bezerra, “I get really pumped after I score a goal.”
Senior David Finn has another way of celebrating, called the human toilet.
“So there are 3 people that make the toilet. The first guy just stands in the back. The second rests on both knees right in front of the first. Then the third guy gets on all four’s with his side on the second guy. They start with the second guy putting his arms over the third. Then the guy who scored (me probably) runs up, lifts the second guy’s arms (like he’s the seat), sits on the third guy, acts like he’s going to the bathroom, gets up, puts the seat back down, and pulls the first guy’s arm as if flushing. It would definitely result in a red card,” Finn explains.
When asked where the inspiration for the celebration comes from, Finn replied “This was inspired by the Icelandic Soccer Team, source of all the best celebrations.”
Although it has not been performed yet, students at MHS may have little chance of seeing it, as Finn explains, “It’s the kind of celebration that would probably get me thrown out, but it’s just so clever. No matter how bad I want to do it, I’ll probably just do something boring like point to or look at the fans in the stands.”
The reason for celebration, no matter what kind, can be summed up by Ekanayaka, who says “I celebrate because I just scored and put my team in a winning position.”
To see Iceland’s toilet dance, type in “Icelandic Soccer Toilet Celebration” in the search bar in youtube.com.