The Mastermind Award Nominees 2017: Best Goal

Hundreds of thousands of fantastic football goals have been scored in 2017. But out of all the brilliant goals we’ve been blessed with, these are the best of the bunch. These are your nominees for Best Goal as part of the 2017 Mastermind Awards.

Olivier Giroud

The 2017 FIFA Puskas Award winner, Olivier Giroud’s back-heel goal was something that was absolutely unreal to watch. Alexis Sanchez’s cross into the box was poor and ended up far too behind for Giroud. But the French striker provided a piece of invention, flicking his backheel at the ball and producing the goal of the season. What’s even better is that the kick was unstoppable, bouncing off the top of the bar and in, giving the keeper no chance of saving it.

♥ Mario Mandzukic

One of the greatest goals in the history of the UEFA Champions League, and it came in the final. Although Mario Mandzukic’s sublime overhead kick wasn’t enough to lead his team to victory over Real Madrid, this goal was absolutely incredible. After a great cross from Alex Sandro, Gonzalo Higuain controlled excellently well and flicked it up to Mandzukic without ever letting the ball hit the ground. Then the Croatian striker did the rest, caressing the ball off of his chest and throwing his left foot at it, bicycling kicking the ball into the top corner. What. A. Goal.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Although Mkhitaryan’s scorpion kick hasn’t garnered as much attention as Olivier Giroud’s, it was arguably equally superb, and Mkhitaryan was the man who did it first. Just like Sanchez’s cross for Giroud, Ibrahimovic’s ball into the box arrived behind Mkhitaryan. But that didn’t stop the Armenian, who came up with an inventive finish and smashed the ball into the back of the net. Giroud’s goal might have been from further out, but Mkhitaryan’s took a lot more skill as Ibrahimovic’s cross was whipped in with so much pace and the Armenian had to wait until the exact moment to flick his foot.

Kevin-Prince Boateng

Something out of FIFA Street, Kevin Prince-Boateng’s goal against Villarreal is absolutely unreal. The passing that Las Palmas achieved before Boateng smashed the ball into the back of the net was already good enough but the Ghanain’s finish was just incredible. The chip ball in from the defender was excellent and was the first amazing pass of the move but then Tana back-heeled the ball over to Boateng who, under pressure from the defender, threw his body at it, producing a bicycle kick from the side. This was an incredible goal and although it wasn’t enough to win the match, it is certainly worthy of a place on any Best Goal of 2017 list.

So there it is! The nominees for Best Goal as part of The Mastermind Awards 2017. Like what you read? Subscribe for more and make sure to be back here on December 5th to begin voting for all the awards! See you soon!

♥ = The Mastermind‘s choice for each award category.

PREVIOUS WINNER

2016 – Xherdan Shaqiri vs. Poland