Antoine Griezmann had two more opportunities to unleash his trademark goal celebration, as his brace helped hosts France progress to the Euro 2016 final on Thursday night.
A first-half penalty and a prodded second against Germany took his tournament goal tally to six, prompting the diminutive forward to once again stick out his thumb and little finger on both hands to form a pair of rotating telephones.
But what is the celebration all about?
It’s actually a tribute to Canadian rapper, Drake, and his hit single Hotline Bling.
It’s a celebration Griezmann has been using regularly with his club, Atletico Madrid, so it was a familiar occurrence in La Liga as the French forward scored 22 league goals for Diego Simeone’s side last season.
Despite the celebration being second nature when he’s with Atletico, the excitement of scoring for his country at Euro 2016 meant he forget to show off his moves following his goal against Albania and his first against Ireland in the last 16.
Griezmann’s celebration was inspired by Drake’s music video for hit single ‘Hotline Bling’
Fortunately Drake popped back into his head in time for his second goal against Martin O’Neill’s side and he hasn’t looked back since.
‘That’s a dance from the video to Drake’s Hotline Bling,’ Griezmann said, when asked about his celebration.
‘I’ve been doing it when I score for Atletico and I should have done it when I scored against Albania, but the emotion was too much and I forgot about IT.
‘The same thing happened when I equalised against Ireland. For the second goal, I remembered.it.’
Griezmann is now almost certain to secure the Euro 2016 Golden Boot, given he’s three clear of every other player to find the net at the tournament.
Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani have all scored three times in France, meaning the trio would need to score the first ever European Championships final hat-trick to catch Griezmann.
Hotline Bling was not the only celebration on show in Marseille following France’s semi-final win, as the hosts copied Iceland’s Viking clap in front of their fans at the final whistle, showing the lasting impact the Scandinavian minnows have had on the tournament.
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