Jude Bellingham’s famous ‘arms spread’ celebration is becoming popular in the sports world. The latest football star to embrace this move is Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, surprising many with his recent interaction with the Englishman after a recent match.
The two footballers crossed paths in Ukraine’s 1-1 draw against England during the international break. Zinchenko even scored a goal in this game, something which the English midfielder couldn’t replicate – even though he did put on quite a show for the Three Lions.
A surprising event took place after the thrilling game as tunnel footage showed Bellingham talking to his fellow Real Madrid teammate and Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Lunin when Zinchenko came out of nowhere to greet him.
What did Zinchenko do with Bellingham after recent friendly?
These two players might have never played together at the club level, but their interaction almost looks like one between old friends. Zinchenko seems to get on really well with Bellingham, sharing a sweet little moment.
The two can be seen laughing and suddenly the Ukrainian defender seems to imitate Bellingham’s trademark celebration, getting a laugh out of him and Lunin.
This entire interaction seems to be so easy-going and friendly that for those unknowing, it might appear that Zinchenko and Jude are best buddies who hang out with each other all the time.
With that being said, that is obviously not true because the two don’t play for the same club and certainly not in the same country. They have never been teammates at any level across their careers.
In fact, the two don’t even represent the same sponsors (Bellingham is sponsored by Adidas and Zinchenko by Puma), so this association is even more confusing.
How could Zinchenko be friends with Bellingham?
Fans have been left with many questions after seeing this warming yet very random interaction between the two.
Most supporters found it difficult to understand how these two could be best of friends. The footballing circle is small but even then their interaction doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Despite one claim that they might’ve bonded while representing their countries across multiple youth levels in their career, that isn’t exactly possible because Zinchenko is six years older to Bellingham and couldn’t have possibly matched up against him at the youth level.
So how exactly did these two bond like this if they never played together or weren’t teammates?
Well, a logical explanation would be that the two might’ve grown closer on social media – which has become an ideal platform for allowing people living in different areas to bond via the many platforms.
They have also faced off against each other a few times in the past (when Zinchenko was at Manchester City and Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund), which is probably when they got to chat and get to know each other a little bit better.
Considering that both the players seem to be the friendly, easy-going type, it’s not surprising that they hit it off well despite not seeing each other that frequently.
Moreover, with the two often attending FIFA ceremonies or other award shows, they could’ve gotten to know each other better in those events too and become better friends. While this interaction might be very random, it shows how closely-knit most of the top-level footballers are – even if they don’t often play together.
