Israeli Celtic winger Liel Abada endeared himself into the hearts of the Scottish soccer champions' supporters in Glasgow's Old Firm Derby over the weekend with a touching tribute to a young fan who passed away recently.
The Israeli marksman netted a brilliant brace and paved the way to victory for the Hoops in their 4-0 routing of arch-rivals Rangers at Parkhead on Saturday.
After firing home the opening goal in the 8th minute of the match, Abada celebrated by holding up a T-shirt with an image of 14-year-old Leon Brown — a young Celtic fan who was found dead in his bedroom last month after trying a dangerous viral TikTok craze called the "blackout challenge” which encourages people to restrict their breathing until they fall unconscious.
In addition to the 20-year-old Israeli prospect's homage, the crowd at the stadium broke out in a round of applause in Brown's memory in the 14th minute of the game on Saturday.
Abada was also named man of the match as the champions enjoyed a commanding three-goal lead by half-time. A crucial mistake by the Rangers goalie in the second half gifted the hosts their fourth goal of the match and sixth successive win as they maintain a perfect record in this Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Israeli international was substituted off in the 72nd minute to roaring applause from the home fans.
In his post-match interview, Abada said: "I feel amazing. It's the most important game in the Scottish Premiership, and I enjoy it. I want to thank the players who helped me to score and the coach for the support. Now we just want to get better."
Abada already has 6 league goals and an assist to his name in 7 outings this season in the white and green kit and shares the top of the Premiership's goalscoring table with fellow teammate Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Israeli international and his team will kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign later this week by hosting reigning European and Spanish champions Real Madrid who also boast a perfect record so far this season.
While Los Blancos are headed into the match as clear favorites, Israeli players have proven in the past to have a knack for scoring against the 14-times European champions.
First was soccer legend Yossi Benayoun who scored the winning goal for Liverpool against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the Champions League round of 16 in the 2008/9 season.
The second was Manor Solomon, who currently plays for English side Fulham, with two goals for Shakhtar Donetsk against the Spanish giants in the 2020/2021 season's group stage.