Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o performed old man celebration in response to allegations that he is actually older than he claims to be after scoring in Saturday's thrashing of Tottenham.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho poked fun at the Cameroon striker in what he thought was an off-camera moment a couple of weeks ago by a similar claim which he has constantly laughed off.
The Cameroon forward has always laughed it off, and in a week when new suggestions were made about his birth date, Eto’o showed the funnier side of it all.
Mindful of that, Eto'o marked his strike against Tottenham – which sparked a 4-0 home win – by pretending to hobble around with a walking stick, and a bad back, as if to say: 'Not bad for an old fellow.'
Mourinho admitted Eto'o's goal celebrations were a perfect riposte to the controversy surrounding his recent comments about the striker's age.
The boss could certainly see the funny side.
“I didn't suggest it, but I knew it [was coming],†said the Chelsea boss.
“And it was more than fine because the best way to diffuse a situation is to make fun of a funny situation, so it was good.
“Some newspapers did great with photoshop, now they don't need a photoshop, they just need the real pic.â€
After racing onto a Jan Vertonghen back pass, Eto’o lashed the ball home to give Chelsea the lead against Tottenham – before pulling off an old man celebration.
He held his back in pain as he leaned against the corner flag, pretending that he was struggling with old age.
The gesture was also a jibe at his former partner, who told the media recently that he is years older than he claims to be.
Eto’o’s team-mates, including Eden Hazard, saw the funny side of it and he soon snapped out of it as they returned to the centre circle.
Eto'o, turns 33 on Monday, but Mourinho has no idea how long the Champions League winner can keep going.
“I don't know how long he can go on for,†he said. “I think at this age, it's year after year and you analyse the way they go. Ryan Giggs how many? 40 is still good.â€