Soccer

Red Bulls star’s hand-on-hip goal celebration goes viral

With the Red Bulls atop the MLSā€™ Eastern Conference and preparing to host FC Dallas Sunday, captain Thierry Henry is all over the internet ā€“ not for a spectacular play or a golazo, but for his demure goal celebration that has taken on the titular name “Henrying.”

Think Tebowing, with a twist.

The Red Bullsā€™ French superstar scored in the last two games ā€“ both New York victories ā€“ and had the same celebration: Walk to the goalpost, lean up against as he šŸŸrelaxes, content in his work; hand on his hip and head down in a casual manner as if to say ā€œNot having a go, but ź¦”you know I have scored before.ā€™ā€™

Twitter promptly erupted with Photoshoā™›pped variants under the hashtag #henrying, including ones inspired by Game of Thrones, Star Wars, the Statue of Liberš”ty, Iwo Jima and of course, Miley Cyrusā€™ famous twerking performance.

ā€œThis morning, yes, the guys showed me some of the pictures. Itā€™s kind of funny at the end of the day,ā€™ā€™ said Henry, who claimed there was no preconceived celebration, just 35-year-old legs that šŸ¦‚needed a rest after scoring. ā€œThere is nothing behind the celebration. I know you guys were laughing about it, but itā€™s true. I neededź¦ŗ a rest,ā€™ā€™ Henry said Friday after practice. ā€œI stopped there, saw the post in Houston; saw the post the other day, was basically by it, so I stopped by it. Now everyone is doing stuff in internet with it.ā€

WhišŸ ch his Red Bull teammates were all too happy to show him, good-natured ribbing.

ā€œI am happy, pleased. Itā€™s funny. I didnā€™t see all of them. I saw a couple of them,ā€™ā€™ saidā™‹ Henry, who struggled to pick out a favorite. ā€œI didnā€™t see all of them. I saw the one with Muhammad Ali, I would guess. Itā€™s funny overall, thatā€™s how I would put it.ā€™ā€™