Sem Steijn did not make himself popular on Wednesday night with the way he celebrated his goal against FC Barcelona. The Feyenoord midfielder made it 4-1 when his side were already well behind, then celebrated wildly at Spotify Camp Nou and drew criticism from both pundits and supporters.
By then, Feyenoord had little left to offer against the Spanish champions. The Rotterdam club eventually lost 5-1, though they did carve out a few chances and Nacho Ferri even looked to have made it 3-1 at 3-0 down, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Not long after that, Feyenoord got on the scoresheet anyway. Gonçalo Borges broke down the right and squared for Steijn, who got across his man well and finished emphatically. The substitute celebrated with obvious delight and could not hide a broad smile.
Speaking on Ziggo Sport, Jon Dahl Tomasson had mixed feelings about that reaction. “I would be happy too, but I wouldn’t celebrate if you lose like that,” said the former Feyenoord player. “You just don’t show that as a footballer. It’s about winning and you are simply behind.”
Even so, Tomasson could understand Steijn to a point because he feels the player has been through a difficult spell and has had little game time. “I’m delighted for him. I would also have been extremely happy if I had scored a goal like that, but I would never have done it myself,” stressed the Dane, who also described Steijn’s reaction as ‘pure’.
Youri Mulder also took issue with the exuberant celebration. “A little bit, yes,” he replied when asked whether it bothered him. “If it’s 2-1, then you can celebrate properly, because then you think: come on, maybe we can still make it 2-2. But you make it 4-1 with ten minutes left to play. Then you just raise your hand briefly and get back as quickly as possible.”
On X, Feyenoord supporters also reacted badly to the way Steijn celebrated his goal. “He’s celebrating like an amateur who has scored against Barcelona...,” one supporter wrote, while another fan was even more cutting: “You’re making your club look ridiculous if you celebrate the 4-1 like that...”
After the match, Steijn explained to Ziggo Sport why the goal meant so much to him. “I always had one dream and that was against Barcelona,” he said. “I have surpassed my father in many things as a footballer, but there was still one thing I hadn’t done, and that was score against Barcelona.”
That personal situation also fed into his exuberant reaction. “Of course I’m in a period where I would rather have played a few more minutes,” said Steijn. “So it feels very good to score a goal like that.”