Premier League - Bale's Bieber-like heart celebration

Fri, 27 Jan 15:48:00 2012

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has revealed all about the heart celebration which bears a striking resemblance to a favourite pose of teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.

The Gareth Bale

Bale, one of the hottest properties in world football and a key part of a Spurs side that is challenging for the English title for the first time in generations, is often seen celebrating his goals with a hand gesture in the shape of a heart.

Yet the brilliant Welshman, coveted by European champions Barcelona, has never let it be known exactly what this is meant to symbolise.

Well, he has now - and it turns out it is a tribute to childhood sweetheart Emma Rhys-Jones.

"I hadn't been playing for a while and I was with my girlfriend and she asked what I would do if I scored," Bale explained.

"I told her I would make the 'heart' sign but I wasn't sure when it would happen. When I eventually scored I did it and my girlfriend thought it was great."

The goal in question was Bale's strike against North London rivals Arsenal in the 2-1 win at White Hart Lane in April 2010. After that the move simply stuck, and is a touching display of affection for a girl whom Bale rarely talks about in public.

He didn't say whether the fact that it is the favourite symbol of worldwide sensation Bieber, pictured, had anything to do with the idea.

Spurs winger Gareth Bale has revealed all about the heart celebration which bears a striking resemblance to a favoured pose of Justin Bieber - 2 Seventeen-year-old Bieber's fans often make the gesture back to him: see the picture of some of them forming it on the street with their bodies at the bottom of this article.

And last year no less an authority than the New York Times reported on its growing popularity among celebrities: it cited Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Steven Tyler and Milan striker Pato among those seen making the Bieber hand-heart.

Somehow the Times overlooked Bale, who appears to have nicked more than his hairstyle from the pop pipsqueak.

The 22-year-old has also used other comedy celebrations in the past.

"I also did a 'lawnmower' celebration that was for my mates," Bale added.

"I was mucking around with my mates playing the FIFA game and they said I should do a 'lawnmower' the next time I score. I scored not long after that so it was a bit of fun and my mates thought it was funny."

Spurs winger Gareth Bale has revealed all about the heart celebration which bears a striking resemblance to a favoured pose of Justin Bieber - 3 His heart celebration has since inspired T-shirt designs, a Facebook page and even an option to do the celebration in the FIFA video game series.

Seen anyone else doing the heart thing? And whose heart is better - Bale's or Beiber's? Have your say in the comments box below!

Spurs winger Gareth Bale has revealed all about the heart celebration which bears a striking resemblance to a favoured pose of Justin Bieber - 4

Eurosport

Comment 4 - 23 of 23

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated
  1. pato does it

    From Daramola, on Sun 29 Jan 12:21AM
  2. did anyone notice that guy on the third picture­ ?he's the only bloke in the audience .he's­ gotta be gay

    From Pape, on Sat 28 Jan 10:19PM
  3. This is ridiculous! I've seen players make that­ gesture since way waayy before that girl, and I­ didn't even knew she did that sign, I've seen­ that in Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Italy, and even England­ football. Pato for example does that gesture a lot and­ long before.

    The fact that the writer is attributing­ that sign as invented or patented by Bieber is simply­ absurd, that lady had nothing to do with the creation­ and no-one (exempt i'diots) thinks that's his­ sign.

    From Thoughts from Jaime Sabines, on Sat 28 Jan 5:47PM
  4. how much subnormal in these photos

    From Chili, on Sat 28 Jan 3:46PM
  5. I thought that hand gesture is the way players or any­ one else can use to show how he or she love his or­ her fan, it does`nt have anthing special to do with­ Bale alone.europsport like making something out of any­ england players. WHY THIS ARTICLE??????????

    From James, on Sat 28 Jan 10:32AM
  6. i think he is telling everyone how big his pooshoot is!

    From deedontdodatderdoodee, on Sat 28 Jan 7:34AM
  7. what the he;ll

    From john t, on Sat 28 Jan 6:51AM
  8. He will have a broken heart when he visits the­ Emirates!

    From bill, on Sat 28 Jan 1:20AM
  9. Is that andy johnson in the front row?

    From Barry, on Sat 28 Jan 12:31AM
  10. worst celebration ever

    From dylan, on Fri 27 Jan 11:50PM
  11. Bale just wants to spread the love ! Like Beiber and­ anyone else.

    But most of all he wants to win ! COYS­ !!!

    From ispurs, on Fri 27 Jan 11:45PM
  12. its ,arrys ringpiece after six months inside­ wahahahhahaha

    From Isaac hock, on Fri 27 Jan 10:46PM
  13. bale

    From Amber, on Fri 27 Jan 10:26PM
  14. And the players are not doing the same as that­ @#$%.got. They show it to demonstrate how much they­ care out of the field.

    From ansimov Sergiu, on Fri 27 Jan 10:22PM
  15. omg this @#$% bieber stuff invades eurosport. Kill it­ before it lays eggs!

    From ansimov Sergiu, on Fri 27 Jan 10:17PM
  16. I prefer Alex Song's he does it too eurosport!!!

    From masizag, on Fri 27 Jan 10:04PM
  17. it isnt a love heart anyway, its the shape of his­ swollen testicle.

    From Isaac hock, on Fri 27 Jan 9:33PM
  18. quite true but to answer the question I'd prefer­ Bale

    From Manasseh, on Fri 27 Jan 7:49PM
  19. Well gay!

    From steven, on Fri 27 Jan 7:42PM
  20. puff

    From Isaac hock, on Fri 27 Jan 7:25PM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account