South Africa and Baroka FC goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke’s last minute acrobatic goal against Orlando Pirates was Cristiano Ronaldo’s pick for the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal scored in the world over the past year.
Ronaldo backed Masuluke to win the prestigious award, calling his goal amazing.
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The 24-year-old was up against Arsenal’s French striker Oliver Giroud and Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos.
Already, Masuluke had made history by becoming the first African player to make it to the final three-man shortlist for the Puskas Award.
He however missed out on the award to Giroud’s scorpion kick against Crystal Palace, much to the disappointment of most Africa’s that had hoped he would take the trophy home.
Masuluke scored with an overhead kick form the edge of the penalty area in the dying seconds of Baroka’s Absa Premiership match against Orlando Pirates at Peter Mokaba Stadium in November‚ earning his team a 1-1 draw.
Cristiano went on to win the FIFA Best Player for the second time in a row, matching Lionel Messi’s record of five wins.
Lieke Martens of Barcelona and the Netherlands won best female player, Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane was named best men’s coach and Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman the best female coach.
