‘I’ve BGT to thank for my objective celebration – however VAR has ruined doing them’
Premier League cult hero Benjani Mwaruwari believes VAR is destroying the art of goal celebrations.
The former Portsmouth and Manchester City striker was famed for his routine after finding the net, pointing at fans three times before moving his arm across his body to gesture to the whole crowd. After initially struggling to find the net for Pompey, the discovery of his new goal celebration coincided with a prolific run of form and prompted a move to newly-rich Man City.
However, the 45-year-old fears that the modern game has stunted the chances for similarly iconic moments in the Premier League The ex-Zimbabwe international believes that the introduction of VAR has restricted the chance for wild celebrations and planned routines, with players fearing that goals will be ruled out..
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“I feel like VAR has ruined goal celebrations… no one wants to commit to a proper celebration because you never know whether they’re going to pull it back and disallow the goal for something that happened in the build-up,” Benjani exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone. “Which is a shame, because we’re missing out on great celebrations!”
Explaining the inspiration for his own, Benjani revealed that his routine came from an unlikely source: “I actually have Britain’s Got Talent to thank for my celebration! The first time I did it was at the start of the season in 2007, in our opening game against Derby County.
”Me and Nwankwo Kanu had been watching Britain’s Got Talent and one guy was celebrating after his performance, but he didn’t know how to express himself in English, and so he went to the audience and just pointed at them. Kanu said ‘Benji, that’s a great celebration, there!’ And so we agreed that the first one of us to score would do it! Whoever scored first between us, owned the celebration!”
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(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Benjani signed for Portsmouth from Auxerre in January 2006 and scored seven goals in his first 50 games for the club. However, the first use of his trademark celebration marked a new dawn in his career. Benjani netted 12 goals in 23 league games for Pompey that term before moving to Man City in February 2008, briefly returning to the south coast club in 2011.
“I scored on the first day against Derby, and so I did it,” Benjani added. “Then, in our second game of the season, at home to Man United, I scored again – if you watch my celebration, Kanu follows me immediately, because he knew what I was about to do! It was planned between us, and then it just continued and continued and continued… I took it with me!”
