LIVERPOOL FORWARD MO Salah was somewhat surprisingly named the winner of the 2018 Fifa Puskas award for his curling strike in last season’s Merseyside derby, at this evening’s awards ceremony in London.
The Egyptian was one of 10 players shortlisted for the award, with his goal — which saw him beat two Everton defenders before curling a left-footed effort into the top scorer — earning 38% of the public vote.
Salah’s strike beat Gareth Bale’s overhead kick in the Champions League final and Cristiano Ronaldo’s similarly acrobatic effort for Real Madrid against Juventus among others.
Memorable World Cup goals from Denis Cheryshev, Ricardo Quaresma and Benjamin Pavard were also among those nominated.
“I am very happy and very proud,” he said, at the Fifa Best Awards. “I have to thank everyone who voted for me.”
Last year’s Puskas award was won by Olivier Giroud, who hit a stunning scorpion kick to round off a superb team move for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
James Rodriguez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar are among the other star names to have been awarded the Puskas prize in recent years.
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