With his team facing another painful defeat, Cairo Santos gently hit the ball in the final moments of the game. He, the other 21 players in the area and a crowd of approximately 80,000 people watched his kick locate his target to gain a foothold. of victory.
In a moment of joy, the 33-year-old Brazilian raced across the turf, moving his arms in and out repeatedly in celebration before being immersed by team-mates.
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The 51-year-old Santos’ basket allowed the Chicago Bears to a thrilling 24-22 victory over the Amers Rivaux of the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers, on Sunday, in the final game of their final game of the 2024 season. ending a series of 10 consecutive defeats. In total, the opponents had not won 11 matches since 2019.
But it was his game-winning celebration which garnered much of the attention, on social media at least. Football (soccer) fans wondered why this American football player had seemingly copied former Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, while some NFL followers wanted to know what his moves were all about.
Over the past few days, things have become clearer.
The Bears have not fared well against most warring sides this season and have lost 10 straight games before their 17th and final game of the 2024 campaign at Green Bay on Sunday. That streak included a 20-19 loss to the Packers in Chicago in November. , where Santos blocked a potential winner in the final seconds, so Sunday’s jubilation is understandable.
Drogba’s birthday party can be described as piecing his elbows just above his waist before extending his arms straight, hands pointed, and doing it on repeat. The ivory led him as he slid onto the box on his knees.
Drogba is a two-time African Footballer of the Year and is known for his time at Premier League club Chelsea. Lasting two spells between 2004 and 2015, he scored 164 goals in 381 appearances for the west London side and won one Champions League, 4 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups and 3 League Cups. He was widely seen as one of the greatest forwards to play in the English top flight.
Towards the end of his career, Drogba took his talents to North America. In 2015 and 2016, he was in MLS with Montreal Impact, before joining Phoenix Rising in the second-tier USL (United Soccer League), helping them become its Western Conference champions as player/part-owner before retiring in 2018. He continues to co-own the Arizona-based franchise.
Santos is not the only imitator of Drogba’s celebration in other sports, with teenage darts sensation Luke Littler using it during his run to the PDC World Darts Championship title last week.
Kyle Brandt, one of the hosts on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football show and a Bears fan, posted on X: “I have never seen a human do this movement before. Ever” before following up with another post: “1 or 2 of you have mention it’s from a different sport (sic). Thank you. I don’t watch soccer much at all. Nothing against it. I don’t know celebrations. I’m still in shock the Bears won.”
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Many other people on social networks praised the celebration. One even said it “almost as intelligent as a kick. “
Speaking to reporters after the match, Santos said: “I didn’t plan for any of it. I just wanted to let my emotions out and I think a lot of it was leading up all these weeks from the first time we played them and I just let it out with a soccer celebration (and) my normal celebration. Last game of the season, so I just let it out.”
“Ever since that game against Green Bay at home, I’ve had a horrible taste in my mouth,” he added, according to the Bears’ official website. “I tried to stay in the moment every game after that, but I directed that game in my heart. I was literally on my knees all week and praying for a winning kick. It’s just surreal that it happened this way. “
Santos is a Chelsea fan and Drogba is one of the club’s biggest icons.
In an Instagram post from July 2015, the Brazilian shared photos of himself hanging out at the club’s stadium, Stamford Bridge. The caption reads: “I’ve been looking for a stop at this club since I’ve been in the game.
Although Brazil organized for the first time a NFL match at the beginning of this season, American football is the most popular game in the local country of Santos, which won a record of five male glasses and is the cradle of the biggest player. In the history of the game, Pelé.
Santos grew footballically in Brazil before moving to the American state of Florida as an exchange student at the age of 15.
Many Brazilians have played for Chelsea in the last decade, notably Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Willian, Ramires and Oscar, and they also had a Brazilian manager in Luiz Felipe Scolari in the 2008-09 season.
The Bears participated this season in the NFL Games in London, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-16 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October, and Santos took the time to take a look at foreign football between England and Greece in the Wembley Stadium, your stopover in the British capital. . Training
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He is the only kicker in the NFL with football experience.
Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys decided in the first circular of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft through Toronto after 4 years of sports at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, where he won a national championship, but never made a first-team appearance. For them. Matt Gay (Indianapolis Colts) and Jake Bates (Detroit Lions) also played in their school days.
(Top photo: Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)