Leon Goretzka fired Germany into the last-16 of Euro 2020, but almost as important was how he marked his crucial goal in Munich.
The midfielder's shot picked up a couple of deflections before nestling in Peter Gulacsi's net, and salvaged a 2-2 draw for Germany with Hungary at the Allianz Arena.
Goretzka's goal came at the end densely populated with Hungarian fans, led by the far-right leaning, black t-shirted Carpathian Brigade.
The build-up to Wednesday night's game had been dominated by talk of illuminating the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours in protest at Hungary's draconian anti-gay laws.
And that was clearly to the forefront of Goretzka's mind as he wheeled away from his equalising goal.
The Bayern Munich man formed his hands into a simple heart shape and started down the noisy Hungarian support.
Addressing the celebration on Instagram, he said "Spread love".
Leon Goretzka levelled it for Germany in Munich on a night when France, Germany and Portugal progressed from the 'group of death'. #PORFRA #GERHUN #EURO2020 #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/5PHShh4Tcr
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 23, 2021
Goretzka has long been an advocate of LGBTQ rights.
Earlier this year, former Bayern and Germany captain Philip Lahm advised against homosexual players coming out as gay.
However, Goretzka responded by saying, "I would encourage everyone to assure them of my support and still understand if they don't dare.
“My hope is that players will come out in my active career too. And I'm sure that the fans, in spite of all prophecies of doom, would deal with the topic much more naturally than we sometimes think.
“When it comes to such issues, our society is often much more advanced than sport.”
And just earlier this week, Goretzka said, "We want to fight racism and homophobia as a team.
"Some teams kneel - for us Manu [Neuer] wears the rainbow armband.
"The Allianz Arena should be lit up in the colors of the rainbow. I think it's great that this is being highlighted in several campaigns."
