In a year that saw a record amount of goals from Lionel Messi, only one such kick could be awarded the FIFA Puskas Award for the goal of the year.
Miroslav Stoch took home the award on Monday, beating out Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and Santos star Neymar with his goal for Fenerbahce in a league match against Genclerbirligi on March 3, 2012. The award was voted online by fans, who casted over five million votes for the best goal of the year.
The Slovakian booted a perfect kick off of a corner pass without letting it touch the ground, hooking the ball perfectly into the top corner of the net for a goal in the 6-1 victory at home. It was one of two goals for Stoch in the match.
The 23-year-old kept Neymar from winning the award two years in a row and joined Neymar, Hamit Altintop, and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only winners since the award was established a few years ago.
The FIFA Puskas Award is named for Ferenc Puskás, the striker for Real Madrid team of the 1950s. Ronaldo won the first award for his goal against F.C. Porto in a 1-0 win for Manchester United, while Hamit Altıntop won for his goal against Kazakhstan in UEFA Euro play for Turkey. Last year's award went to Neymar for his goal for Santos in a 5-4 loss to Flamengo.
Stoch has played with the Turkish team since 2010 and also spent time with Twente, Chelsea and the Slovakian national team. This season he has scored one goal while playing for Slovakia and Fenerbahce and has also added one assist in 10 matches. In the last game he played, Fenerbahce fell 3-0 to Borussia Monchengladbach.
The goals he beat were as impressive as his own. Neymar was the favorite to win the award for a second straight year for his winding dribble against Flamengo, which saw him dribble in and around a number of players before pushing the ball past the goal keeper. Radamel Falcao's athletic bicycle kick against America de Cali didn't get enough votes to win, but was just as impressive, taking a corner kick on the fly and blasting a goal into the top center of the net.
Stoch has been competing since an early age and was one of the top players in Chelsea's youth academy in 2007, scoring 11 goals and finishing as the top scorer for the under-18's. He played some time for Chelsea and Twente, helping the latter to become the champion of the Eredivisie for the first time.
He has made his biggest impact while Fenerbahçe, after signing a four-year deal in 2010. He is contracted to the club until 2016 after signing an extension and helped the club win the Süper Lig title in 2010-11 for a record 18th time.
Although Stoch won, everyone knows what the real "best" goal of the year was. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's overhead kick was likely the best goal of the year, but it missed the cutoff date, meaning he will have to wait until next seasons awards for a chance to win.
Ibrahimovic's goal came in a 4-2 victory over England and was one of four goals of his in the game. He hit a perfect bicycle kick off of a header by the goal keeper and it landed in the goal just ahead of streaking foot by a defender.