He is a finalist for the 2015 FIFA Puskas Award, but the year wasn’t all roses for Wendell Lira. The 26-year-old was unemployed when he heard the news that his masterpiece would be running for goal of the year.
After scoring this beauty for Goianesia in the Goias State Championship, Lira transferred to Brazilian Third Division side Tombense, but his spell there didn’t last long.
“I went to Tombense to play the Serie C (Brazilian Third Division), but I didn’t get many opportunities, especially after there was a change of managers,” Lira told Globo. “I’ve been unemployed for two months, training in the gym and watching out for some opportunities for next year.”
Lira was hoping that the goal would bring him some new opportunities, and it certainly did. Earlier in November, the player signed a contract to play for Vila Nova in 2016.
“This signing is an old wish of mine and Hugo’s (Hugo Jorge, Vila Nova’s director of football),” Vila Nova’s president Carlos Alberto Barros said. “We always liked his football, but in other opportunities the signing just never happened.”
With his future set, Lira is euphoric about having his goal selected as one of the best three of the year, and now he is looking forward to meeting the world-class audience that will be present at the FIFA awards.
“I didn’t even believe it. Everything is crazy, like when FIFA announced the Top 10 list. I’m going to enjoy this moment; it’s a dream. It only happens once in a lifetime,” Lira said. “I’m going to ask to take a ton of pictures…It’s a dream to meet these players.
“I’m a huge fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi is a genius, and Neymar had an amazing season. For the way he’s playing, I think Neymar deserves to be the best in the world. That’s what I want. To leave there (FIFA awards ceremony) as a winner and that he (Neymar) wins it too.”
The Brazilian’s goal is competing against two other masterpieces, one from Messi and a bomb from distance from Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi.
And the campaign for Lira to win the popular vote is running on full steam in Brazil. The country’s two most prolific social media sensations, Nao Salvo and Desimpedidos, have already called their armies of followers to arms and to the FIFA website to vote for Lira.
The name Nao Salvo probably sounds familiar to some readers because of this gem:
Yes, that’s the same blog that had half of the world (including major news sources like The Mirror, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report…) believing North Korea convinced its citizens that it had won the World Cup.
It will be interesting to watch how the social media world might impact this particular voting.
