VIDEOS: Five Footballers Who Have Suffered Injury While Celebrating

Manu Imorou. | image source: football365.fr

Footballers are fun individuals and goal scoring tends to be one of those occasions that brings out their funny and creative side as they savor their moment of fame

Of course some of the moves that they pull on the pitch can be funny and creative and having considered that fact, then goal celebrations can just be an extension of that.

However, not all goal celebrations are cool as some players have pulled some crazy stunts in the name of celebrating a goal which backfired on them and as a result they had to leave the pitch on a stretcher.

From badly bruised knees to broken fingers, the following are videos of players who got themselves injured, and stupidly at that, while celebrating a goal.

1). Emmanuel Imorou, Caen, 2015

Over the weekend, French footballer Emmanuel Imorou was on the mark as he scored Caen's second goal in their 2-0 win over Gazelec Ajaccio in the French Ligue 1.

Imorou celebrated the goal by sliding on his knees and he later regretted it, as he ended up badly bruised as the following photo shows.

VIDEO: Manu Imorou's goal.

2). Antonio Candreva, Lazio, 2015

The forward hit a wall while celebrating after scroing Lazio's winning goal in a 2-1 win over Palermo in February this year.

3). Paul Diogo, Servette, 2004

Injury while celebrating a goal does get worse when you are celebrating a goal scored by another player. Worse is if the goal is the third in a 4-1 rout.

That is what exactly happened to Swiss footballer Paulo Diogo in December 2004 as he was celebrating a goal that he had set up. The player had his ring finger severed as he jumped off a barrier and there could not be a better description of the incident than the one given on his wikipedia page.

On 5 December 2004, playing for Servette FC in an away game against FC Schaffhausen, Diogo set up a goal for Jean Beausejour in the 87th minute of the game. By way of celebration, he jumped up on the metal perimeter fence separating the fans from the pitch. Unnoticed by him, his wedding ring caught in the barrier (Diogo had married not long before). As he jumped off the fence, much of his finger tore off along with the ring.[1]

To add insult to injury, referee Florian Etter then penalized him with a yellow card for excessive time-wasting with his "celebrations". In fact, the match stewards were searching for his finger. Later that night, Diogo was taken to a Zurich hospital, but the doctors failed to re-attach the severed part of the finger and advised that the remaining part of his finger be amputated to the first joint. He has continued to play football since the accident. The event generated international commotion, and served as a warning of the danger of hanging on places or objects while using any type of ring, such as the wedding ring.

Detail of how Paulo Diogo injured his finger while celebrating a teammate's goal.

VIDEO: Paulo Diogo's injury.

4). Fabian Espindola, Real Salt Lake, 2008

Espindola not only suffered injury but had a goal he had scored against LA Galaxy in a 2008 MLS match disallowed.

The Argentine sprained his ankle while doing a somersault celebration and was ruled out with injury for eight weeks.

5). Martin Palermo, Villareal, 2002

The Argentine forward was ruled out for 8 weeks in 2002 after he broke his leg in two places while celebrating a goal he had scored for Villareal. Palermo never regained his form after the incident and left the club the following season.