Danleigh Borman always dreamed of scoring his first professional goal. He just wasn't sure how or when it would happen.
But the celebration? He had that all planned out.
"In college I had the same celebration when I scored," Borman said. "I think it just came, I need to go to the corner flag and do my flip and roll."
However, when dream became reality Saturday night at The Home Depot Center, it wasn't exactly how Borman had it mapped out.
"I don't think it was as smooth," he said.
That's an understatement.
Borman did a cartwheel and then appeared to imitate the gestures Chicago Fire star Cuauhtémoc Blanco makes with his hands, which are in homage to ancient Aztec emperor Cuauhtemoc and his eagle-feather headdress. But Borman's display was instantly the topic of conversation among his teammates.
"They gave me a hard time," Borman said of his teammates. "I heard it was the worst celebration ever."
Borman said the most criticism came from John Wolyniec and goalkeeping coach Des McAleenan. He did have a few supporters though.
"It shows for one, he's got some (guts). Two, he actually thought about something maybe before he scored, which means he actually thought he was going to score, which I like because it shows a bit of confidence," said Chris Leitch, who said Borman's cartwheel was Robbie Keane-esque. "Did it look good aesthetically? You could argue probably not. However, at least there was an attempt to be creative."
"I just thought it was different, man," added Mike Magee. "For his first goal, to have the guts to do something stupid like that. I thought it was pretty sweet. I was right next to him when he did it. It looked awkward, it was funny, he was confident and I hope he does it again."
Borman, who again showcased the celebration in Thursday's training session, said it was inspired by his father Daniel, who would do backflips when he scored goals.
The gesturing had its origins from fellow Cape Town native Shaun Bartlett, who once played for the Colorado Rapids and the MetroStars and scored the goal of the year in the English Premiership when with Charlton Athletic in 2000-01.
"Shaun Bartlett used to do that and that was my celebration when I was younger," Borman said. "But I got a bit confused and ended up doing the Blanco."
While he didn't expect to score this early into his professional career -- after all, seven goals in four years at the University of Rhode Island didn't exactly light the Atlantic-10 Conference on fire -- Borman said he couldn't have dreamed up a better setting for it.
"It was amazing, especially in a game against the Galaxy, with Juan Pablo [Angel] playing and David Beckham, it's something I'll always remember," Borman said.
As for the goal itself, it was opportunistic. Angel flicked on a long throw by Hunter Freeman and Borman was there at the back post to follow up Jozy Altidore's rebound in the 21st minute.
The scenario played out a few times in preseason, but Borman didn't time his run well. But against the Galaxy, it was perfect.
Everything, that is, but the celebration.
"The goal was brilliant," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "The celebration was poor."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
