Tomas Soucek reveals touching reason he didn’t use his trademark celebration after scoring for West Ham against Leicester
West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek has revealed he did not use his trademark celebration against Leicester out of respect to their opponent’s late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
Soucek opened the scoring for West Ham in a 2-0 win over the Foxes on Thursday night.
The Czech international, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, fired in a loose ball in the 21st minute after Mohammed Kudus’ effort was saved.
Soucek was seen celebrating his effort initially with both hands down by his side, before punching the air.
The midfielder had previously been using a ‘spinning’ celebration for over a year, which has seen him rotating with both arms outstretched after finding the back of the net.
Last year he claimed the celebration was about him ‘enjoying his dream’ of playing for West Ham by ‘flying in the sky’.
West Ham’s Tomas Soucek has explained his understated celebration against Leicester
Soucek opted against his normal celebration out of respect to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
The Leicester owner died in a helicopter crash after Leicester’s match with West Ham in 2018
Speaking after West Ham’s victory over Leicester, Soucek revealed he decided against celebrating in the same manner against the Foxes out of respect.
“I didn’t think my normal helicopter celebration was the right thing to do, because of what happened to the Leicester owner.
‘I wanted to celebrate my goal with my team, but I also wanted to show respect to our opponents.’
Leicester’s late owner Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people killed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium on October 27 in 2018.
The crash had occurred after the helicopter took off from the stadium after Leicester’s home match against West Ham.
Thai billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people killed in the crash, which also claimed the lives of employees Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, as well as co-pilots Eric Swaffer and his girlfriend Izabela Roza Lechowicz.
The helicopter, a Leonard AW169, ‘aggressively’ spun out of control from a height of 430ft and was then ‘engulfed’ in flames.
An inquest last month ruled that the helicopter crash was an accident.
Soucek has celebrated goals with a spinning celebration which has seen him with his arms outstretched and rotating – pictured after scoring against Wolves in December
He celebrated against Leicester initially with his arms by his side before punching the air
The midfielder scored the opening goal in West Ham’s 2-0 win a struggling Leicester side
Soucek’s goal on Thursday night helped West Ham to a 2-0 victory over relegation threatened Leicester.
A Jannik Vestergaard own goal gave the Hammers a two goal lead at half-time, a margin they maintained in the second half.
Back-to-back wins have moved West Ham up to 15th in the Premier League table.
Leicester remain in the bottom three with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side now five points adrift of 17th placed Wolves.
