The Real Madrid forward is still baffled at how his stunning goal in a European showpiece was snubbed in favour of a derby strike by a Liverpool star
Gareth Bale believes his overhead kick for Real Madrid in the Champions League final should have landed the Puskas Award, with Mohamed Salah’s nod seeing the prize “diminished”.
The Wales international became a leading contender for a prestigious FIFA gong after netting a stunning effort in a European showpiece against Liverpool.
His strike illuminated the grandest of stages, with Bale having stepped off the bench for Real in Kiev to net twice and secure an historic third successive continental crown.
He was, however, to be overlooked in the vote, with Egyptian frontman Salah favoured after netting a slaloming solo effort in a derby date with Everton.
“Yeah, I was surprised by that, to be honest,” Bale told FourFourTwo when quizzed on whether he felt hard by.
“What can you say? It makes the award look a little diminished, although it was obviously a great goal by Salah.”
While Bale was left disappointed at the lack of recognition for his wonder strike against Liverpool, nobody can take the achievement away from him.
The 29-year-old claims he knew he had done something special from the moment the ball left his boot, with the cleanest of connections allowing him to beat Loris Karius from around 15 yards out.
“It was instinctive,” Bale added.
“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.”
Bale has made a habit of producing the spectacular down the years, across spells at Tottenham at Real, but concedes that a magical moment against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds is the pick of his career to date.
“I think you’d have to say that [it was my best goal],” he said.
“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, the biggest game in club football – and technically it was the winner, I’d have to say that it’s the best.”
Bale is currently trying to rekindle that spark in the 2018-19 campaign, with the Welshman on a barren run in La Liga which has seen him go 10 games without finding the target.
RealMd13
314
How ????? When CR7 Goal was The best Goal of the Year 😱😱😱
Divyansh26
233
Well Bale and Ronaldo deserved that ......but NO PROBLEM Salah brought some accolades to Liverpool .......😌😌...Little Surprising but yes ....... YNWA........
shariffeyyulegunshot
200
I think this man did better than all because see he near to break his leg in order to score goal Messi
hemzcool
191
it should have been Bale or cr7 ... sadly sadly Salah I wanted to kill myself when I Saw that
gamemasterutd
184
FIFA robbery has become common these days , Puskas should go to Cr7 or bale for their outstanding effort in champions league not to Salah , also ballon d'or should only go to Cr7 and not to.modric. FIFA is making a joke of these awards.
SINGAM23
179
good comparison between Bale and CR7.... but the winners is Mo Salah
Mohammadshakeel
179
Gareth bale's and Cristiano ronaldo's overhead kicks were fantastic and to give salah the puskas award for that everton goal is rubbish , players like messi and ronaldo score these goals everyday but no one scored goals like them , football is much unfair
EunhoSr
153
Who cares about your opinion? You just accompanying Ramos in insulting Mo Salah simply because prior to this news Ramos took a photo of himself having a shoulder injury to prove that despite having that injury he still play well than Salah ( That's some kind of mocks). If Bale want to win the next puskas award , he start scoring for RM since he is not under cr7's shadow. But he has started to talk too much than scoring. If you see or hear people appraising their past success, you've to be aware that they are currently worst . Bale please go to hell, if you can't score and win puskas award.
Costa290
149
What of this 👇😚
Longlife2000
139
I think VAR need to check this because Salah doesn't deserve it at all there were players who deserves to win this award and am sure if it's was not a world cup year like they will even give Salah the ballon d'or, UEFA Best player and Fifa best player
gaiyos
132
l don't know what's got into FIFA this year Zlatan ,CR7 and Bale goal where better than Salah Now Modric win the ballon d'Or ......all this year awards where fake
Todorov
108
Ronaldo overhead goal 64min and Bale overhead goal 64min, there must be some alien powers 😁 Ronaldo or Bale should have won the award, but it’s nothing you can do now, it’s in the past and it shows that this award is nothing special, if they can’t really see who scored the best goal.
Huwbeiu
99
awards don't matter to me anymore cause I know that all of these awards are never given fairly and its all about who is more popular,Madrid/juve fans say that ronaldo should win d award and that's just dumb personally I think modric should win or griezmann only thing ronaldo did was win champions league, messi won two trophies and griezmann won WC and modric took Croatia to d final so tell me FIFA explain to me wtf did ronaldo did ronaldo do he didn't even get top scorer he did VERY poorly
Dannydrexx
19
What of your teacher