Harry Kane’s Three Finger Celebration Sparks Inglorious Basterds Nostalgia

Harry Kane, yet again, put on a scintillating performance for FC Bayern Munich in their league match on 4th November 2023.

The English striker made his first appearance in Der Klassiker in the most exquisite fashion, scoring a hat trick in Bayern’s 4-0 win against their arch nemesis, Borussia Dortmund. However, what intrigued the fans most was his interesting goal celebration.

FC Bayern Munich had to face Borussia Dortmund after a humiliating 2-1 loss to a 3.Liga team, FC Saarbrücken in the second round of DFB-Pokal on 2^nd Novermber. This early exit was from DFB-Pokal was covered up by a convincing away win at Signal Iduna Park against Borussia Dortmund.

FC Bayern Munich annihilated their rivals in a 4-0 victory. With this 8th win of the season, they currently occupy the 2nd position in the Bundesliga with their opponent slipping up to the 4th spot. FC Bayern put on a convincing display on the field with noteworthy performances from Konrad Laimer, Jamal Musiala, and Leroy Sane.

However, the entire limelight fell upon The English striker stole the show creating a record of second successive hat trick for the German side.

Kane joined the German side this year from his boyhood premier league club, Tottenham Hotspur, on a permanent summer transfer of a whopping 122 million dollars. However, the striker took no time in proving his worth and has been a focal point of the team. The three additional goals on Saturday have now made him the leading goal scorer of the Bundesliga for the season.

However, more than the goals, Harry Kane came under attention because of his unique style of celebration after his 3rd goal in the 92nd minute of the game.

The English striker was seen expressing his three-goal contribution by signaling a hand gesture of ‘three’ using the extension of his thumb, index and middle fingers. However, this celebration caught the attention of the fans and spread out like fire.

A Twitter user posted his celebration with the caption “I’m convinced Harry Kane learned how to hold up three fingers the German way from Inglorious Basterds.”

The fans quickly drew parallels between this celebration and a scene from the movie, Inglourious Basterds.

This 2009 World War II movie was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starred Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, and Michael Fassbender. Just for context, the movie depicted a scene featuring the character Lieutenant Archie Hicox, portrayed by Michael Fassbender, who infiltrates a German tavern in disguise to carry out a mission against the Nazi forces. 

However, his accent made one of the German officers suspicious of Hicox’s identity as an English soldier. To confirm his suspicions, the German officer proposes everyone in the group must order a drink. However, when it’s Hicox’s turn, he mistakenly uses a hand gesture to indicate three, which is with the index, middle, and ring fingers extended. This was considered to be the British form of hand gesture.

The Germans, on the flip side, are considered to use their thumb, index, and middle finger extensions for the same gesture. This subtle difference in the hand gesture reveals his true identity as an Englishman, leading to a tense standoff and eventually a shootout in the bar.

The viewers found it hilarious that even if he is an Englishman, he used the German form of hand gesture when signaling his three goals contribution. People were quick to point out the reference from the movie Inglorious Basterds referring to how quickly Harry Kane has learned his German culture.

This hand gesture just goes to prove how seamlessly Harry Kane has fit into his new club in Germany. For the Bayern fans, this was definitely an added bonus over his performance. With a record of 15 goals in 10 Bundesliga games, Kane has definitely made a place in the hearts of the fans and also bridged the gap of Robert Lewandowski. Bayern fans are extremely delighted by the striker’s performance and hope that their star signing keeps on shining brighter with games to come.