Nominations Out for FIFA Puskas Award for Best Goal

Then Grafite bypassed Christian Lell, stepped away from the Goalkeeper , Michael Rensing , and left Breno and Philip Lahm in his wake. The pièce de résistance was a reverse back-heel with so little power it was almost on standby, timed to agonisingly slow perfection. "I was blowing it in from the back," claimed Wolfsburg's Italian defender Andrea Barzagli , possibly with Thurn und Taxis in mind. In any case, Breno and Ottl both managed to miss the ball and were in the end made to look like two players from International Soccer who accidentally stumbled on to the pitch for a Fifa 2009 match.

Barcelona were arguably one of the greatest club sides in the history of football, at the very least they were the best team of the last decade, but against Chelsea their legacy was in serious danger of collapsing.

Once Michael Essien gave them the lead inside the opening ten minutes of the second leg, Chelsea had comfortably kept Barcelona at bay. With Yaya Toure at centre-back, Barca struggled to contend with the physicality of Chelsea's midfield and, had it not been for some truly awful refereeing, the West London club could have been several more goals up.

There was to be a twist in the tale of course - Andres Iniesta popped up in the 93rd minute to end Chelsea's hopes of a rematch of the previous year's final against Manchester United , setting Barcelona on their way to a Champions League crown of their own in style.

It was the sort of match that would once have been portrayed as a moment for madcap risk-taking by Manchester United. Instead they went methodically about the business of becoming the first English club to beat Porto on their own ground in European competition. The statistic is no prize in itself and United were really intent on displaying their command after being held 2-2 at home.

The outcome is therapeutic for holders who are now in better shape to make a successful defence of the Champions League , even if they will have to deal with a reviving Arsenal in a semi-final whose first leg is at Old Trafford . United appear gradually to be regaining authority, and spectacle was confined last night to the remarkable long-range goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in the sixth minute.

The Portuguese, stripped to the waist, was almost the last player to leave the field at full-time. This occasion in his homeland clearly had resonance for him, and Sir Alex Ferguson must have incorporated that factor in his scheming, since Ronaldo was given the key post of lone striker.

Though the 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo finished second-best to Lionel Messi at the FIFA World Player Gala 2009 as far as the year's best men's player award was concerned, the 24-year-old did not leave the Kongresshaus in Zurich empty-handed. The Portuguese maestro won the inaugural FIFA Puskás Award for the most outstanding goal of the 2008/09 season, named after Ferenc Puskas who was captain and lynchpin of the legendary Hungarian team of the 1950s.

"I am very proud of this award, it's a great honour for me," said Ronaldo after the ceremony which crowned his goal in the return leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League between Porto and Manchester United on 15 April 2009. Ronaldo gave his then employers a 1-0 lead with an incredible strike from 40 yards which helped send them through to the next round.
FIFA

Guus Hiddink's Turkey kicked off their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group A campaign in superb style courtesy of a commanding victory away against Kazakhstan .
Overseeing his first competitive encounter since taking the Turkey job, Hiddink watched as his charges notched up a 2-0 first-half lead; Arda Turan breaking the deadlock before Hamit Altintop let fly with a sumptuous 25-metre volley. Kazakhstan posed more of a threat after the restart, but it was Turkey who struck again towards the end, Nihat Kahveci making sure they will welcome Tuesday's opponents Belgium with three points under their belts.
UEFA

Beating the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to top spot for ESPNsoccernet's Goal of the Year 2010 is a breathtaking piece of improvisation from 25-year-old Glentoran striker Matthew Burrows . His sensational finish - a mid-air back heel from 16 yards out - was as important as it was incredible, giving his side an injury time victory over Portadown in the Northern Irish Premiership.

It was Rooney , however, who produced a moment of inspiration to score a stunning overhead kick that will live forever in the memory of United's fans and extended City's dismal sequence of only one league win in their last 27 visits to Old Trafford.
Nani 's cross from the right flank was high and behind Rooney as he lurked near the penalty spot, but he elevated an indifferent personal display to the heights by readjusting his position and sending an acrobatic, unstoppable overhead kick high past startled City keeper Joe Hart .
BBC

Leo Messi is once again a contender for the FIFA Puskás Award, an Award given to the player judged to have scored the most beautiful goal of the year. The Argentinian was up for the prize in 2010 as well. This year, his goal against Arsenal in the return leg of the Champions League knock-out round has been nominated.

Santos star Neymar has been nominated for FIFA's annual Ferenc Puskas award, given to scorer of the best goal in the past twelve months.
Neymar has been nominated for his solo effort against Flamengo (below) earlier this season, whilst competition includes Wayne Rooney's overhead kick against Manchester City and Lionel Messi's goal against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Zurich, Switzerland - Santos star Neymar has been awarded the FIFA Puskas Award 2011 for his sensational solo strike against Flamengo, beating Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney to the prize for greatest goal of the year.
The winner was decided by FIFA.com users, with more than 1.3million votes registered in the last month since the Brazilian, Argentinian and Englishman were named as the remaining contenders.
After a shortlist of ten was announced last November, also featuring the likes of Zlatan_Ibrahimovic , Heather O'Reilly and Giovani dos Santos , the final three were confirmed in December.
Neymar's goal, scored during a nine-goal thriller in the Brazilian league in July last year, saw the highly-rated 19-year-old dribble past three defenders and complete a one-two with his team-mate before poking the ball past the goalkeeper.