The Puskas award is named after the iconic Real Madrid and Hungarian striker Ferenc PuskasSepp Blatter may be in the news for all the wrong reasons at the moment, but the institution of the Puskas Award is undoubtedly a good thing he ushered in during his time at the helm of FIFA. Named after the fabled Ferenc Puskas, a prolific goal-scorer of yesteryear who would have given Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi a run for their money had he plied his trade in our time, this award seeks to recognize the most beautiful goal of the year.The best part of this award is that it recognizes a beautiful goal "without distinction of championship, gender or nationality" and the authorities have stuck to this rule with a host of lower-league and youth footballers regularly finding a spot in the nominees’ list over the years.Emphatically, the moment when Stephanie Roche of Peamount United shared the podium with James Rodriguez and Robin van Persie at last year’s gala, will forever bear testament to ideals this award has hoped to follow. That is not to say the usual suspects like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have not won this award as they are exceptionally talented and have pulled off some of the most breathtaking goals over the last few years. However, there are many footballers you probably didn’Ât know had scored stunning goals and made the shortlist over the years. Here we will have a look at some unexpected but known faces belting in wonder goals and almost nicking the awards in their respective years.
#1 Michael Essien for Chelsea vs Barcelona
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Michael Essien was snapped up by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea for a whopping 24.4 million pounds, a fee that marginally pipped the sum Chelsea paid for Didier Drogba the summer before. This made Michael Essien the most valuable African player at the time and all signs showed that he would go on and excel under Mourinho – a physical box-to-box midfielder who could be one of Mourinho’s trusted lieutenants on the field.
Though he did not go on to achieve the legendary status that Didier Drogba commands at Chelsea, he repaid the faith the club had on him with his wonder strike against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, a tie that the London club narrowly lost on the away goals rule.
An attempted cross by John Terry ricocheted off a Barcelona player only to gleefully present itself for Essien, who obliged by thumping a thunderous volley into the goal and sending the Bridge into raptures.
This goal earned Essien, now winding down his career at Greek club Panathinaikos, a spot on the first ever shortlist of the Award which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo.
#2 Giovanni van Bronckhorst for the Netherlands vs Uruguay
A young van Bronckhorst was roped in by Arsene Wenger as a potential partner for Patrick Viera in central midfield. However, the former Dutch captain’s Arsenal career was hampered by injuries and he eventually moved to Barcelona where he remodeled himself as a left-back.
A winner of the Champions League and La Liga with Barcelona and a permanent fixture in a strong Netherlands side that performed well at the Euros and World Cups of the last decade, van Bronckhorst’s finest hour for the Oranje arguably came in the World Cup Semifinals of 2010 against Uruguay.
In an exciting and tight match, it was captain Gio who delivered the goods as opposed to the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie. Picking up the ball from an innocuous pass by Sneijder close to the left side of the pitch, Van Bronchorst let rip what has gone down in history as the ‘firecracker’. So unexpected was the goal, that opposition players couldn’t move till the damage was done.
The current Feyenoord manager earned his side a shot at the title, losing to eventual winners Spain. He would feel a little undone since he narrowly missed the podium for the Puskas that year.
#3 Tim Cahill for Australia vs the Netherlands
Tim Cahill is the epitome of the Australian spirit. Full of grit and stomach for a fight – the Aussies are always stepping up to the plate even when they are forced to be punching above their weight most of the time. And Tim Cahill is their leader and their nation’s all-time top-scorer.
Though his importance to his team is on the same level as the importance of Neymar to Brazil or Ronaldo to Portugal, Cahill’s contributions are more unassuming and unspectacular – but critical nevertheless.
He scores a lion’s share of his goals though headers, but in that breathtaking World Cup 2014 match against the Netherlands, Cahill showed up when his team needed him the most, and boy did he do so in style! Reeling after the Netherlands had drawn first blood at Porto Alegre, Cahill arrived just at the right spot to receive Ryan McGowan’s wonderful lob over the Dutch backline – and Cahill obliged by rifling home a thunderbolt.
In what experts believe to be one of the most spectacular goals of the competition, it sadly did not alter the outcome of the match as Australia went down 3-2.
The former Everton legend will unlikely feature in another World Cup, but he bowed out as one of the competitions brightest lights, having joined a select group of players to have scored in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions of the spectacle.
#4 Nemanja Matic for Benfica vs Porto
Nemanja Matic is having a tough time this season for Chelsea. Undoubtedly a world class defensive midfielder, Matic was Mourinho's lynchpin in the midfield, as important as the likes of Hazard and Costa in the title-winning side of last season.
Matic was brought in as a youngster at Chelsea but was sold on the cheap as a part of the deal that saw David Luiz going the other way from Benfica. However, Chelsea were back for him after three years with their tail between their legs, shelling out over 20 million pounds for the immense quality he brings in the middle of the park.
However, for this mind-blowing goal he scored for Benfica against Porto, you would be forgiven for thinking he was brought in to compete for the striker’s spot. Latching on to a bobble from a teammate’s header that sat up nicely for him, Matic lashed in a vicious scissor kick from the edge of the box into the back of the net.
Benfica would go on to win the Primiera Liga that season and Matic would earn his big money move back to Chelsea – not in the least for this wonder strike that saw him finish a close second in the running for that year’s Puskas Award.
#5 Philippe Mexes for Milan vs Inter
Former France international Philippe Mexes is currently a key member of Milan’s attempted renaissance. The veteran centre-back is one of the more experienced players in Sinisa Mihajlovic’s young squad – and the manager will no doubt expect Mexes to be the general of the Rossoneri back line.
This year, Milan took on eternal rivals Inter in a keenly contested match of the International Champions Cup – and Mexes pulled a rabbit out of the hat by thumping in a goal for the ages. Receiving a cross from the left, Mexes fired home an amazing scissor kick from outside the box, in what proved to be the difference between the two teams in that match.
That goal has made Mexes a surprise contender for this year’s Puskas award, and you might argue that if Matic’s goal earned him the second spot, Mexes surely deserves to go one better and clinch the prize for himself come the 11th of January.
