THIS IS IT. . . His turn has FINALLY come!
This is Oscarine Masuluke’s Oscar moment, his chance to shine after his overhead-kick goal was nominated for Goal of the Year, the prestigious Fifa Puskas Award, pitting the player against nine others.
The lanky Baroka FC goalkeeper is not looking back and does not hold any grudges against South Africans who did not vote for his goal for the PSL Awards in May this year, rather choosing Siphiwe Tshabalala’s strike thanks to Kaizer Chiefs’ popularity.
But this time around Masuluke is pleading with South Africans to come together for the common purpose of seeing a local boy called up to the podium to collect a Puskas Award in London on 23 October.
His stoppage-time Absa Premiership goal which forced a share of the spoils with Orlando Pirates, is up against those of Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng and the strikes of French boys Moussa Dembele and Olivier Giroud, among others.
Speaking to SunSport yesterday, the 24-year-old said it was an honour for him to be nominated with the best players in the world.
“It shows I’ve done a good job. I’m proud of myself,” he said in reference to last year’s goal that helped save his club from relegation.
“This nomination is like victory to me – but I need the bigger prize. It would mean a lot.”
- The voting process takes less than a minute: Log onto the Fifa.com website, select the “Vote: Puskas Award” icon at the top and vote for Masuluke, who is No 9 on the list.
The three finalists will be announced on 9 October and Masuluke is convinced that South Africans will help him be among the top three.
He added: “This nomination shows that I was a worthy contender here at home for the PSL Goal of the Season award, but that didn’t happen and I accepted it.
“It is all in the past now. This time I’m not expecting a lot – too much expectation often brings disappointment.”
The goalkeeper is the second SA player to be nominated for a Puskas Award after Mamelodi Sundowns’ Hlompho Kekana was nominated for his goal last year. Kekana scored against Cameroon via a long range effort from the centre line but his goal did not make the cut for the top three.