"How vociferously are you allowed to celebrate a goal as a 30-year-old? This was the only thing that tempered my jubilation on 30 June 2024, a moral quandary amid the elation, the beer sweat, the tears. As I dragged my heavy legs away from the Greenwich beer garden which that day became a golden English garden, having inadvertently collided with my friend's chin while celebrating Jude Bellingham's brilliant bicycle kick, I was hit with a pang of shame."
"Not all of it was genuine. Pint-throwing has become a national sport in such moments and the internet was awash with it afterwards, pardon the pun. Many on social media see these occasions as a chance to piggyback on the joy and bag a few cheap likes. Watch the moments as England fans wildly celebrate goals against Slovakia video Yet there was nothing performative in my reaction to Bellingham's bolt from the blue."
"I had to ask someone a second later who had actually scored, such was the extent to which I lost myself. I needed a few deep breaths to recover from the emotional switcheroo; having been solemnly agonising as the seconds ticked down towards Slovakia's inevitable 1-0 victory, to the explosion that came next. When Harry Kane headed home early in extra-time to make it 2-1, I hared off into empty space and bear-hugged a stranger."
A 30-year-old fan celebrated exuberantly after Jude Bellingham's bicycle kick during England's Euro match, colliding with a friend's chin in a Greenwich beer garden and feeling sudden shame. The friend laughed and was unhurt, but the fan worried about appearing to over-celebrate and whether such behavior suited a professional sports journalist and future father. The national outpouring of joy included performative reactions and pint-throwing online attention, but the fan's reaction was authentic, temporarily losing himself and needing deep breaths to recover. Extra-time excitement continued with Harry Kane's headed goal prompting more spontaneous embraces and jubilation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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