A couple more memories that came back to me in all this World Cup fever were: Robert Earle's Salute, when he tied for Jamaica in their first game against Croatia. Robert Earle was the last of the 'Crazy Gang' who terrorized the Premier League, another famous member being Vinnie Jones. Earle had a chance to play for England, but he never did and ended up playing for the "Reggaez Boyz".
He was one of the veterans on the team, and their chances didn't look so good being in the same group as Croatia and Argentina, but there was a growing sense of support in England, given colonial connection, and I remember Earle's goal, because it came out of nowhere, and being the first group game, all of a sudden there was this sense of potential. Earle's celebratory salute sticks in my mind (4:50, the video isn't really worth watching in its entirety)
The second celebration that sticks to my mind was actually in a lot of the early ESPN WC adverts. If I were a defender for my country, in a locked semi-final against the host country, and I happened to receive the pass at the end of extra-time, that would lead to my scoring the game-winning goal, I most certainly would run down the sidelines shaking my head like Fabio Grosso:
I'm positive if any sound was coming out of his mouth, all he could manage was a breathless squeal as if Timberlake walked into a sweet 16 party.
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