12 Moments When Football Celebrations Went Disastrously Wrong

It was on a dusky evening in April 2011 when Sergio Ramos saw the fruits of his labours literally slip from his grasp, as the Real Madrid defender dropped that season's Copa del Rey trophy from atop the team bus.

To mark the fourth anniversary of that most embarrassing faux pas, we've assembled some of the most disastrous incidents in which an individual, or even an entire team, has plummeted from jubilation to horror.

Football often proves to be a cruel mistress in that success can take minutes, hours, months and years to come by, but it takes mere seconds for that joy to be replaced by something far less appealing.

Read on for a collection of celebration slip-ups, some of which may be looked upon with a smile, while others court a far more disconcerting reaction.

12. Diederrick Joel Hits Rock Bottom

At 21 years of age, Diederrick Joel still has an entire career ahead of him in which he may look to perfect his celebration technique, but the world currently knows the Cameroonian youngster for just one in particular.

After netting his second goal against Sao Paulo during a September 2014 fixture, the forward—then on loan with Coritiba—proceeded to bound over the security banners and onto some harmless-looking tarp.

Unaware to Joel, however, the cover was actually draped over the locker-room tunnel, and he was taken down a peg or two in a far too literal sense.

11. Riolo Terme Striker Uses His Head

Football is a great equaliser in that even if one isn't talented enough to make it to the top, they're still more than welcome to celebrate as if their achievements are close to that of winning the World Cup at any moment.

An unnamed Riolo Terme striker took that notion to the extreme, however, when netting against fellow amateur Italian club Ponticelli before going on to head-butt the dugout into shards.

Even the player's team-mates look at one another as if to question their ally's sanity at the time, with the referee evidently ruling against his favour and showing the hapless forward a red card to go with his bruised head.

10. Arjen Robben Takes a Tumble

To balance out the previous slide, Arjen Robben shows even the greats can look foolish in the wake of glory, contributing an ugly effort to his celebration photo album in November 2013.

After scoring against Eintracht Braunschweig, the Dutchman did what all young kids do when celebrating a goal in their living room and dived into a classic knee slide—surely nothing could go wrong with that?

But the Allianz Arena turf proved to be a tad too efficient at its job for Robben, who's forced into an early exit from his celebrations, ripped socks and all.

9. Maurides Somersault Injures Knee

It's happened to some gifted players down the years, but Internacional striker Maurides may not be the first name springing to mind when mentioning the topic of celebration-induced injury.

That doesn't make the 21-year-old's story any easier to accept, however, after Maurides scored against America Mineiro only to rupture knee ligaments during the landing portion of his backflip.

That lapse in execution cost the Brazilian 13 months of his professional career, and although we jest, it shows there's a very real threat that comes with such avoidable displays of overexuberance.

8. Goalkeeper Khalid Askri Celebrates Penalty Save Prematurely

This adored clip has a habit of creeping back into the football sphere from time to time, but no person detests the sight of it more than former FAR Rabat goalkeeper Khalid Askri.

Askri was playing for the Moroccan outfit in 2009 and saved a penalty for the team during their shootout in the semi-finals of that year's Moroccan Throne Cup—or so he had thought.

Askri strode away from his net to gloat while the ball was still airborne, but he was left red-faced when the spin took it back toward the goal upon landing and eventually trickled over the line.

From hero to zero in a matter of seconds.

7. Daley Blind Gets Too Close to Dutch Title

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will be hoping midfielder Daley Blind has a better control of his senses, having shown in the past that he's perhaps not one to be trusted around trophies.

After winning the Eredivisie title with Ajax in 2013, the Netherlands international couldn't help but get to grips with the silverware and proceeded to topple said title off its plinth in true dunce fashion.

6. K-Stars Punished for Their Hubris

One of the key principles taught when playing football as a youth is to always play to the whistle—and that includes the one signalling the restart of play after your team scores a goal.

Zambian side K-Stars clearly left their lesson books at home, however, when they took an age to celebrate what they thought was a late winner against Mozambican outfit Ferroviario earlier this year.

Even the K-Stars goalkeeper (regretfully) got in on the act and left his post unattended, with Ferroviario proceeding to take advantage with a late equaliser from halfway.

5. Barcelona's Bus 'Brawl'

There was a time not so long ago that Barcelona looked like an unstoppable bunch, whose happiness couldn't be upset in any manner—except from those within, perhaps.

After claiming the 2012-13 Liga crown, Alex Song and Gerard Pique had to be broken apart by club captain Carles Puyol following a scrap that appeared to break out atop the club's celebration bus in Catalunya.

Per the Daily Mail's John Drayton, there were no lasting repercussions to come from the heated exchange, but it was nonetheless shocking to see from a team that usually gives off a signal of inner peace.

4. Stuart McCall Topples off Car Following Bradford City Promotion

Securing Premier League status is a moment any player would savour as one of the brightest in any career, but unfortunately for Stuart McCall, he may not remember his so well.

If the amount of alcohol evidently consumed wasn't enough to wipe Bradford City's 1999 promotion to the top tier from his memory, the fall onto concrete from atop a car may have have been.

Nevertheless, McCall's slip in the Valley Parade car park will go down as a most lovable moment, illustrating how fine the line runs between ecstasy and calamity.

3. Chelsea Staff Leave Champions League Trophy in Pieces

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Three members of Chelsea's club staff were suspended in 2012 after it was discovered they'd made an after-hours visit to see the Champions League trophy that year, breaking it in the process.

Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail reported at the time "one of the handles was left hanging off," but a London silversmith was swiftly put to work on its repair before anyone was the wiser.

The Blues' Champions League triumph in 2012 was a time of great prosperity for all at Stamford Bridge, except for the three unnamed culprits.

2. Maarten Stekelenburg's Butter Fingers

Ramos isn't the only player to have a mishandling mishap atop a bus, with former Ajax stopper Maarten Stekelenburg also on the exclusive list of players to have dropped trophies from aboard a bus.

Riding through Amsterdam, the Dutchman lets the 2010-11 Eredivisie title just evade his grasp for a brief moment before he discovers it has gone under the bus hurtling behind the one he's aboard.

It's bad for any player with such vast responsibility to treat a trophy with such little care, but for a goalkeeper to show this kind of maltreatment is another level of irony altogether.

1. Sergio Ramos Drops 'King's Cup' from Celebration Bus

After four years, Ramos' moment of madness still sits as the most horrifying celebration gone awry, where the silverware he and his team-mates had worked so hard for met the unforgiving crush of a 10-tonne bus.

Following their 2011 Copa del Rey triumph, Real Madrid were beaming with smiles as they rambled through Spain's capital city, and the supporters were out in their throngs.

Those smiles turned upside down all too quickly, though, and despite Ramos' attempt to claim the trophy was "OK," per the Daily Mail's Gavin Allen, it clearly was not.

There's a fine chance Ramos will be lifting other trophies with Madrid in the years to come, but ensuring the Spain defender is on the bottom floor of any future double-decker buses may be wise.