Patrik Schick wonder-goal on final shortlist for 2021 FIFA Puskas Award
Bayer Leverkusen forward Patrik Schick has been named on the final three-man shortlist for the 2021 FIFA Puskas Award, given to the player deemed to have scored the best goal of the year.
Schick fired home nine times for Leverkusen in 2020/21, with several memorable strikes - most notably his acrobatic volley against Bayern Munich. However, the instinct, precision, and sheer audacity to pull off his goal from the halfway line against Scotland for the Czech Republic at UEFA Euro 2020 was on another level.
The Leverkusen No.9 was 49.7 yards away from goal when he smashed the ball over the top of the scrambling Marshall, curling in his outrageous shot - which had an xG of just 0.03 (the quality of the chance, depending on factors including angle and distance from goal) - with remarkable power.
It was the furthest distance anyone has scored from in a European Championship or World Cup since 1980, beating David Villa's 2010 strike from 47 yards for Spain against Chile, and was unsurprisingly named Euro 2020 Goal of the Tournament.
Goals from Erik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur/ Argentina) and Mehdi Taremi (Porto/ Iran) complete the final shortlist.
The FIFA Puskas Award is so named in honour of legendary Real Madrid and Hungary forward Ferenc Puskas, widely considered one of the finest players in history after shining for club and country in the 1950s and 60s.
All of the goals on this year's shortlist were scored between 8 October 2020 and 7 August 2021, and were chosen by a panel of FIFA and external football experts.
The winner of the award will be selected by an international jury comprising a panel of FIFA Legends and fifa.com users, and announced the the FIFA Best awards ceremony on 17 January 2022.
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