Ce-le-bra-tion : Media Mockery

Gazza and his ‘dentist chair’

Several innovative celebrations popped up this past week, including Wayne Rooney pretending to give John Terry a haircut following the centreback’s winner in England‘s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. (What was that about, anyway?) But getting a couple of teammates together to act out a little skit after scoring a goal isn’t uncommon in the history of the game.

Paul Gascoigne drinks up the applause

The most memorable came during the 1996 European Championships held in England. Coming into the Championships, the England team was under severe pressure to perform after newspapers published photos of the team enjoying a heavy night out in Hong Kong during what was supposed to be a pre-tournament warm-up. The most humiliating pictures were of several players, including Paul Gascoigne, taking turns in “the dentist’s chair,” in which they had to tilt their heads back while bottles of liquor were ceremoniously poured down their gullets. (Very classy.) But in the end, Gazza had the last laugh. During the group stage match against Scotland, Gascoigne scored a sublime volleyed goal, dropped to the ground and sat there as if he were back once again in the famous dentist’s chair, while teammates sprayed water from bottles into his open mouth. To this day, it’s probably the best combination goal-and-celebration ever witnessed.