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Wanna see the goal that has clocked up 3,324,726 hits (and counting) on YouTube?

Already shortlisted for the FIFA Ferenc Puskás Goal of the Year award, this sublime and seemingly impossible goal was scored not by Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard or anybody like that.

It wasn’t even scored in the Premier League, Serie A or La Liga, but in the IFA Premiership in Northern Ireland, by a player called Matty Burrows, a forward for Glentoran F.C.

 

The Puskás award was one of the few good ideas that Sepp Blatter has come up with, to recognise the goal of the most aesthetic beauty by a male or female footballer.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the inaugural edition in 2009 with his 30-yard (or was it 40?) screamer against Porto in the Champions League. You can check out the other shortlisted goals HERE.

The award is based on online votes from the public, but FIFA have outlined a few criteria the voters should bear in mind:

1. Aesthetics (a subjective criterion – long-range shots, team moves, acrobatic goals etc)
2. The importance of the match (an objective criterion – in descending order: national teams, continental tournaments, domestic first divisions)
3. The absence of luck or an opposition mistake as a factor making the goal possible
4. Fair Play: the player must not have conducted himself poorly during the game or, for example, have been found guilty of doping

Unfortunately for Matty, his goal should technically lose out based on the the second criterion. No disrespect to the IFA Premiership, but it’s not quite the World Cup finals, is it?

But since it’s down to public voting, let’s hope it won’t matter cos it’s a pretty cracking goal.

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