Soccer star Mario Balotelli busted out an impressive way to celebrate his latest goal: by posting a celebratory video to Instagram.
The Marseille star netted a fantastically acrobatic goal in the twelfth minute of his team's match against Saint-Etienne on Sunday, after which he was handed his phone by a team cameraman posted behind the field's end line. As Balotelli's teammates swarmed for a celebration, Balotelli snapped a quick video.
Tweet may have been deleted
And it didn't take long to figure out what he was up to as the video quickly appeared on his Instagram feed.
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Whether you love the celebration or hate it probably depends on how you feel about Balotelli, a player known for inspiring divisive feelings among fans.
It's not the first time a soccer player has celebrated a goal with a selfie; as Deadspin notes, Francesco Totti pulled it off in 2015.
There have been a pair of similar incidents in recent Major League Baseball All-Star Games. In 2018 Manny Machado snapped a mid-inning photo with Matt Kemp. In 2017, Nelson Cruz held up the game so catcher Yadier Molina could take a photo of Cruz with umpire Joe West.
Of course, this was the All-Star Game, an exhibition game that's pretty meaningless and fun. If these had happened during a regular game, the baseball's traditionalist gatekeepers would have had a conniption.
And, as a New Orleans Saints fan, I'm also obligated to remind you of Joe Horn's famous 2003 cell phone celebration. This wasn't a selfie celebration (the phone likely didn't even have a camera) but it was a fun celebration that caused some commotion and prompted the NFL to fine Horn $30,000 for the stunt.
Then, 15 years later, another Saints receiver, Michael Thomas, paid homage to Horn's moment with his own cell phone celebration, prompting yet another $30,000 fine from the league.
Here's hoping the next step in the evolution of the phone sports celebration will somehow involve Pokémon Go.
