Western Sydney Wanderers striker Oriol Riera has revealed the heartfelt inspiration behind his trademark goal celebration.
The 31-year-old swapped Spain for the Hyundai A-League this season and has already treated Wanderers fans to four goals in seven appearances.
Each strike has been met with his own twist on the tongue-out celebration, a nod to his involvement with the Adana Foundation in his hometown of Barcelona.
“I started [the celebration] five years ago when I visited a foundation for boys and girls with autism,” Riera explained.
“At the end it was very, very good because one boy said, ‘you can celebrate the next goal for us doing something’ and another girl said, ‘you can do this’.
“And I scored that weekend so after that every weekend that I score I’m doing this.
“It’s only for the girls and the boys that have this problem, and for the Catalan foundation that works with them.
“And they are normal, they are normal people that want to, in the future, they want to be a teacher, they want to be in the police, or want to be anything that they can.”
Riera remains connected with the foundation and believes footballers and athletes “have a very big responsibility” to share their experiences.
“It’s good to go there to visit. Every year I go,” he said.
“For them to know a professional player and know that it’s not easy for us, it’s the same like them.
“[Life is] not easy for us, it’s not easy for us to achieve something, so they know that they are normal, like us.”
A lot of people ask me about my celebration in every goal. All are dedicated to the children of @fundacionadana #TDAH #Autism #WSW ✌?✌?✌?✌️
— Oriol Riera (@ORiera9) October 15, 2017
