Mon 17 January 2022, 19:00
Tottenham HotspurErik Lamela’s incredible ‘rabona’ against Arsenal has won The FIFA Puskas Award for best goal at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021.
'Coco', now of Spanish side Sevilla, who he joined in the summer after eight years and 257 appearances at Spurs, made it into the top three goals earlier this month alongside strikes from from Patrick Schick (for Czech Republic against Scotland at Euro 2020) and Mehdi Taremi (for Porto away to Chelsea in the Champions League). He was revealed as the winner in Monday evening's FIFA ceremony.
It means we're the first club to claim the Puskas Award in successive seasons after Heung-Min Son took the title in 2020 for his magnificent solo effort against Burnley in December, 2019.
Lamela struck in a Premier League derby at the Emirates in March, 2021. Indeed, it was the second time he'd scored a 'rabona' after first unveiling his party trick in a Europa League group match against Asteras Tripolis back in October, 2014.
Speaking at the ceremony, Erik said: "Thank you so much, I'm very happy. I didn't think how special the goal was, I just kicked the ball and started running around the pitch with my team-mates! I never practice this shot in training, it normally just comes in that second, finding the best way to shoot."
