ZURICH: Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has joined the likes of his long-term rival Lionel Messi and succeeded his Juventus teammate Mario Mandzukic in the list of scoring the UEFA.com Goal of the Season. Messi won twice in 2015 and 2016 first up while Mandzukic did so last year for his goal against Real Madrid for Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.
Ironically, Ronaldo’s stunning overhead kick in the tournament’s quarter-finals for his former club Real Madrid against his current club Juventus was the one that garnered nearly 200,000 out of the total 346,915 votes this year. UEFA’s technical observers described it as ‘an extraordinary display of technique and athleticism’.
The runner-up to Ronaldo was Dimitri Payet's goal in Marseille's 5-2 UEFA Europa League defeat of RB Leipzig, while the third place went to Eva Navarro's goal for Spain in their Women's U-17 Euro final victory against Germany in Lithuania in May.
This year's 11 nominees were selected by the technical observers, with one for each of the main UEFA competitions over the past 12 months. Only goals registered in UEFA club or international fixtures were eligible for consideration.
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