The Polish athlete’s bicycle kick was chosen over goals scored by non-disabled global stars, including PSG star Kylian Mbappe, AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez or Mario Ballotelli of FC Sion.
Oleksy’s screamer will now compete for the award against goals netted by Dimitri Payet of Olympique de Marseille and Richarlison of Tottenham.
Commenting on the recognition, Oleksy said: “I felt this goal could have a significant impact in the amp-football community and beyond but I didn't expect it to be quite so resonant.”
The Pole scored his remarkable goal on 7 November in a 4-0 match between his team Warta Poznań and Stal Rzeszów in Poland’s amp-football top tier.
Oleksy described how he managed to bag the goal, saying, “The ball found its way to Dawid [Dawid Nowak, Oleksy’s teammate ed.], and I couldn't help but smile broadly when he played the first touch. The flight path was so cool that I already knew what I wanted to do with it.
“I looked around and saw that the defender was closing in on me from behind, but I had some time. It was at the right height for me to make my move. The strike was so clean that I felt it on my leg. As I fell, I saw it sail into the net,” Oleksy recounted.
Amputee football is a sport for people with limb amputations, featuring seven players on each team: outfield players with lower extremity amputations using crutches, and the goalkeeper with an upper extremity amputation.
The FIFA Puskas Award has been presented since 2009.
Last year Tottenham’s Erik Lamela took the plaudits for his incredible rabona shot, while the first ever winner of the FIFA Puskas Award was Cristiano Ronaldo.
The winner of last year’s most beautiful goal will be announced at the FIFA The Best gala, set to take place on February 27th in Zurich.
(pjm)
Source: Sport.pl
