Mario Balotelli celebrates a goal by immediately posting a video to Instagram

The soccer star's latest celebration has a very Insta feel.
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 

Soccer star Mario Balotelli busted out an impressive way to celebrate his latest goal: by posting a celebratory video to Instagram.

The Marseille star netted a fantastically acrobatic goal in the twelfth minute of his team's match against Saint-Etienne on Sunday, after which he was handed his phone by a team cameraman posted behind the field's end line. As Balotelli's teammates swarmed for a celebration, Balotelli snapped a quick video.

And it didn't take long to figure out what he was up to as the video quickly appeared on his Instagram feed.

Whether you love the celebration or hate it probably depends on how you feel about Balotelli, a player known for inspiring divisive feelings among fans.

It's not the first time a soccer player has celebrated a goal with a selfie; as Deadspin notes, Francesco Totti pulled it off in 2015.

There have been a pair of similar incidents in recent Major League Baseball All-Star Games. In 2018 Manny Machado snapped a mid-inning photo with Matt Kemp. In 2017, Nelson Cruz held up the game so catcher Yadier Molina could take a photo of Cruz with umpire Joe West.

Of course, this was the All-Star Game, an exhibition game that's pretty meaningless and fun. If these had happened during a regular game, the baseball's traditionalist gatekeepers would have had a conniption.

And, as a New Orleans Saints fan, I'm also obligated to remind you of Joe Horn's famous 2003 cell phone celebration. This wasn't a selfie celebration (the phone likely didn't even have a camera) but it was a fun celebration that caused some commotion and prompted the NFL to fine Horn $30,000 for the stunt.

Then, 15 years later, another Saints receiver, Michael Thomas, paid homage to Horn's moment with his own cell phone celebration, prompting yet another $30,000 fine from the league.

Here's hoping the next step in the evolution of the phone sports celebration will somehow involve Pokémon Go.

Topics Instagram

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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