Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn has explained the reasoning behind his trademark goggles celebration.
When including goals for both Aston Villa and Scotland in 2023/24, McGinn has netted five times. On each occasion, the 29-year-old has cupped his hands around his eyes to mimic wearing goggles in what has now become his trademark celebration.
Though nothing out of the ordinary - after all, most professionals have their own signature celebration these days - the Scotsman has clarified that the goggles are actually intended to support his nephew Jack.
"It was supposed to be for Euro 2020," McGinn revealed. "My nephew has got poor eyesight and he has to wear goggles to play football. So I decided it would maybe give him a bit of support to put the goggles on when I score.
"Now he's happy - his team-mates up in Scotland carry on the celebration and he can wear his goggles. Hopefully that inspires a lot of children.
"A lot of people I played with when I was younger had to wear goggles, and when you're younger it's difficult because you feel socially kind of out of it. But the celebration is just a wee thing, a nod to Jack and now it's just kind of stuck."
He doesn't plan on letting up with the celebration, either, suggesting that each time he finds the back of the net, the imaginary goggles will be whipped out.
"If I'm scoring, I can get the goggles out and keep doing it," McGinn added.
Aston Villa next face AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, before hosting Fulham at Villa Park on Sunday in the Premier League. Their final fixture before the November internationals, Villa be hoping to maintain their fifth place in the table - and potentially even overtake Arsenal into fourth.
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