FA Cup 2016/17: The story behind Danny Welbeck's celebration against Southampton
What’s the story?
If you watched Arsenal’s FA Cup match against Southampton, you might have noticed the Gunners’ Danny Welbeck pulling off a weird and funny celebration after scoring his two goals. If you are a follower of the German Bundesliga, you might have also noticed Bayer Leverkusen’s Omar Toprak and Hakan Calhanoglu do the same celebration after the latter scored a brace against Hertha Berlin last week.
Many of the fans are confused about this new trend among the players. When footballers pulled off the dab and the mannequin celebrations, the fans were already aware of those trends and they seemed to enjoy it. However, that’s not the case with Welbeck’s new celebration.
So, what is this weird celebration all about? Well, it’s just another one of those internet trends. The celebration is a reference to a Turkish chef called Nusret Gokce, who is now famously known as Salt Bae after he went viral on the internet for his butchering and salt sprinkling skills.
In case you didn’t know
Premier League giants Arsenal inflicted a heavy 5-0 defeat on league rivals Southampton FC in the FA Cup on Saturday. Former Manchester United player Danny Welbeck finally was back on the scoresheet for his side after nine long months.
This match was the Englishman’s first start for Arsenal after returning from an injury that sidelined him for several months and he marked the occasion with a brace. Theo Walcott then scored a hat-trick against his former side to seal the game for Arsene Wenger’s side. It was in this match that Danny Welbeck channelled the Salt Bae celebration.
Bayer Leverkusen players Omar Toprak and Hakan Calhanoglu did the celebration in their team’s 3-1 win against Hertha Berlin last Sunday. The latter of the two scored twice in the match and pulled off the Salt Bae along with his countryman Omar Toprak. After the match the Turkish players revealed that the celebration was a tribute to their compatriot Nusret Gokce, who has gone viral on the internet.
The heart of the matter
We have discussed the surface part of the issue and now let’s go deep into it. Who is Nusret Gokce and what has the funny action done by Welbeck, Calhanoglu and Toprak has to do with this chef?
First of all, Nusret is not just an ordinary chef, he is the owner of a chain restaurant which is well known for its steak. The Turk already has a lot of social media following for the way he treats meat. People say that he treats meat like a lover and that is why he has set the internet on fire. He chops meat in such style that he makes butchering look a classy profession.
After he has chopped his meat, he then sprinkles the salt on it in a unique manner. That unique action is what has been recreated by the well-known footballers. It may look weird, but it is actually a treat to watch.
What next?
For the time being Welbeck, Toprak and Calhanoglu are the only three notable footballers who have done the salt bae celebration, but we saw the whole footballing world do the dab, the mannequin challenge and more. So, it won’t be a big surprise if more stars join the Salt Bae fan club.
Sportskeeda’s take
It is nice to see footballers embracing the internet trends and memes like other ordinary people. It shows that despite their tight schedules, they find time for having good laughs together. What will be the next trend that the stars are going to pick up? Can we see a bottle flip challenge as a celebration soon? Who knows?