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Cliftonville Ladies’ Billie Simpson has joined Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in being nominated for the World Goal of the Year Puskas Award.
Simpson volleyed from her own half against Sion Swifts in the Northern Ireland Premiership in August 2018.
Andros Townsend’s volley for Crystal Palace against Manchester City in December is also on the shortlist.
The 10 nominated goals now go to a public vote on the Fifa website, which runs until Sunday, 1 September.
The top three in the vote then go forward to a panel of Fifa legends who will decide the winning goal.
The winner will be announced at the Fifa Football Awards in Milan on 23 September.
LA Galaxy’s Ibrahimovic, who won the award in 2013 for his extraordinary strike for Sweden against England, is in contention again, this time for his twisting backheel volleyed finish against Toronto FC last September.
Barcelona talisman Messi is once more on the list, for his sublime dinked finished against Real Betis in March. The Argentine has now been nominated for a record seventh time, but has yet to win the award.
Republic of Ireland women’s international Stephanie Roche was nominated for the Puskas Award in 2014 while Glentoran’s Matty Burrows made the shortlist for the 2011 honour after a jumping backheel volley in a game against Portadown in October 2010.
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Puskas Award nominees
Matheus Cunha (RB Leipzig v Bayer Leverkusen – 6 April 2019)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy v Toronto FC – 15 September 2018)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona v Real Betis – 17 March 2019)
Ajara Nchout (Cameroon v New Zealand, Fifa Women’s World Cup – 20 June 2019)
Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria v Napoli – 2 September 2018)
Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate v Racing Club – 10 February 2019)
Amy Rodriguez (Utah Royals v Sky Blue FC – 16 June 2019)
Billie Simpson (Cliftonville Ladies v Sion Swifts – 9 August 2018)
Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace v Manchester City – 22 December 2018)
Daniel Zsori (Debrecen FC v Ferencvaros – 16 February 2019)
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