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Amid the drama and emotion of his equalizing goal for Manchester United against Leeds on Wednesday night, Jadon Sancho still had the presence of mind to point a finger at his temple as he celebrated outside Stretford End.
Sancho’s joy was understandable. It had been almost four months since he last appeared in the Premier League after taking time to get mentally and physically fit enough to play for United again, and he was a crucial target in getting his team to level. 2-2.
The celebration is a bit more difficult to explain. The finger-to-temple gesture will be familiar to anyone who has watched Sancho’s teammate Marcus Rashford score this season. Or Bukayo Saka, who, like Sancho and Rashford, was ridiculed for missing a penalty in England’s loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
Danny Welbeck, Ruben Neves and Joelinton are among the other Premier League footballers who have copied him.
Further down the divisions, it has become a signature celebration for Hull City striker Oscar Estupinan and Chesterfield’s Armando Dobra. It’s not limited to soccer either. Swiss tennis star Stan Wawrinka wore it in his unexpected run to the 2014 Australian Open title.
Jadon Sancho found the back of the net for Manchester United on Wednesday and celebrated by pointing to his temple as so many other stars have.
Marcus Rashford (L) and Bukayo Saka (R) were pictured doing the same celebration.
It was to signal to his bench that he was mentally in the zone after overcoming two major psychological barriers by beating Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to the trophy.
Djokovic has done it too. Wawrinka said sports mail on Thursday: “I’m a fan of Marcus Rashford and I’m honored that he embraced the gesture.”
So has England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who replicated Rashford’s celebration on his return from injury. United fan Archer played him after taking wickets in the SA20 and gave him another feed during his six of 40 for England against South Africa last week.
“I don’t know what it means but I’ve seen Rashford do it and he’s a pretty spot on guy so I can’t imagine there’s a bad reason,” Archer said.
So what does it mean? Sources close to both Sancho and Rashford said Thursday that it has to do with shutting out the noise and being mentally tough.
United manager Erik ten Hag sent the 22-year-old Sancho to work on an individual training program in the Netherlands towards the end of the year because he was not fit enough or in the right frame of mind, and also took a break from social media after being the victim of abuse.
In Rashford’s case, he talked about finding a better “head space” this season after working through his summer break to focus on getting fit for the new season. He has scored 23 goals for club and country so far.
Meanwhile, Wolves midfielder Neves says he points to his temple after every goal to pay tribute to his hero Andrea Pirlo.
Oscar Estupinan (L) and Ruben Neves (R) celebrated their goals pointing to their heads
Neves tried to model his game on the great former Italy playmaker from an early age, settling on this celebration after reading Pirlo’s autobiography Pienso, Then I Play in 2017.
He has scored every goal since then in this manner. When he scored against Liverpool last weekend, Neves placed his index finger to his temple while also pointing to his chest. The Portugal star seemed to be suggesting that he had patented the celebration.
Colombia international Estupinan has scored each of his 12 Championship goals for Hull this season in much the same way.
The 26-year-old said on Thursday that he was not copied from anyone in particular, but it is a reminder to keep the right mindset and goes back to his five years with Vitor Guimaraes in Portugal.
Which brings us back to Sancho. No one has questioned the quality that convinced United to hunt him down for almost two years before paying Borussia Dortmund a £73m transfer fee.
It is understood that the intermittent nature of his move to Old Trafford took its toll on Sancho, as did the increasingly toxic atmosphere that greeted him when he arrived at the club in 2021, just days after Italian Gianluigi saved his penalty. Donnarumma in the Eurocup final.
On Wednesday at Old Trafford, Leeds fans could still be heard chanting, ‘Sancho and Rashford let the country down’.
There have been times when Sancho must have questioned whether he made the right decision to join United. In Ten Hag, however, he has found a trainer who isn’t afraid to think outside the box and send him away to recuperate.
On the evidence of Wednesday’s celebrations, it has paid off.
The celebration was executed by sports icons Jofra Archer (L) and Novak Djokovic (R)