KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 ― Free kicks and penalties are always a goalkeeper's nightmare, no matter how good or experienced one can be.

It was no different for Pahang goalkeeper Nasril Nourdin who had to pick the ball from the back of the net after Fifa Puskas award finalist Mohd Faiz Subri's “physics-defying” free kick swerved into the net, leaving him rooted between the posts.

Mohd Faiz who is on the brink of creating football history for Malaysia by becoming the first Malaysian to win the award, had scored the wonder goal in Penang's 4-1 over Pahang during a Super League match at the City Stadium in Penang on February 16 while Nasril was the goalkeeper for Pahang.

Nasril who is now playing for Perlis said he was well prepared to face the free kick from Mohd Faiz and was well positioned to thwart the danger since the kick was taken from a manageable distance.

“I had positioned myself well to face the free kick but at as soon as the kick was in motion, I was completely deceived as the ball swerved in front of me, and was in the net before I could do anything.

“It was unbelievable, something that I have not experienced in my career as a goalkeeper for many years. I am confident the 'wonder goal' will win the Puskas Award,” he told Bernama here.

The winner of the Puskas Award will be announced at the Fifa Football Awards ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland on January 9 and Mohd Faiz is scheduled to depart from Penang on Saturday.

The Puskas award which was introduced in 2009 to recognise the most beautiful goal of the year had been won by several world football stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar and James Rodriguez.

Fifa had on November 19 shortlisted 10 spectacular goals scored from September 30, 2015 till September 30, 2016 for the Fifa Puskas Awards for voting on its website.

As of 6pm today, the video clip uploaded on November 21, has been viewed by 2,240,141 people compared with Jonath Marlone Azevedo da Silva from Brazil (1,395,351) and Daniuska Rodriguez from Venezuela (1089,102), the two contenders for the award. ― Bernama