It’s not every day you get to score against Arsenal, especially when you play for a small Swiss team, and if you do manage it, an over the top celebration could be seen as warranted.
That is, in essence, what Nelson Ferreira did back in 2005 when the winger manage to score an audacious chip against Arsenal in the Champions League group stages.
2005 (September 14) Arsenal (England) 2-Thun… by sp1873
The player then ran off towards the Thun fans, holding his shirt’s badge and kissing it, running in front of the Arsenal home crowd in the process.
Speaking to Blick in Switzerland about this, 11 years on, as Arsenal are about to face FC Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday night, Ferreira still remembers one detail that stayed with him since then.
He said: “I kissed the Thun logo out of joy, and the Arsenal fans, in response, gave me the finger.”
Aaah, football fans and emotions running high. Always a delightful combination.
In case you don’t remember, Arsenal went on to win the game 2-1, and subsequently qualified from the group stages that year.
Nelson Ferreira still play for FC Thun, by the way. He’s now 34, and has only made three appearances for the Swiss club so far this season, totalling to 49 minutes.
