GOAL GONG NOW HAS MO VALUE SAYS BALE
GARETH BALE believes the FIFA Puskas Goal of the Year Award has lost its value after he was beaten to it by Mo Salah.
The Real Madrid superstar scored a sensational overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final win over Liverpool.
But it was beaten to the award by Salah’s strike against Everton in the Merseyside derby a year ago, a goal that wasn’t even the Egyptian’s best last term.
“Yeah, I was surprised by that, to be honest,” said Bale “but what can you say?
“It makes the award look a little diminished, although it was a great goal by Salah.”
Bale was speaking to Four Four Two after winning their Goal of the Year award.
He insisted his spectacular effort, which saw him meet Marcelo’s cross to power the ball past keeper Loris Karius, was no fluke. Yet it also lost out to Cristiano Ronaldo’s overhead kick against Juventus for the best goal of last season’s Champions League, as voted by UEFA.
Former Spurs star Bale added: “Mine was instinctive. I got my body positioned correctly, got my footwork right, and caught it perfectly.
“When you catch the ball perfectly, you know it’s on target. You just have to hope the keeper doesn’t make an unbelievable save.
“So, as soon as I hit it, I knew it had a chance of going in. If you watch it, you see my head turn straight away. I knew where the ball was going.”
Asked where the strike (above) ranked among his best-ever, Bale said: “My best goal ever? I think you’d have to say that, there haven’t been too many like that!
“I did love the one in the (2014) Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.
“But as this one was on such a big stage – the Champions League final – and was technically the winner, I’d have to say that it’s the best.”