Volleys are among the most aesthetically pleasing and technically demanding skills in football. You need maximum concentration and an inner calm to stop yourself from rushing the shot. Shirley Cruz demonstrated this to perfection by watching the flight of the ball all the way across the box before angling her body correctly to hit the shot beautifully.

If her foot had been positioned even slightly differently, the ball might have flown high into the stands. Instead, Cruz showed that she is among the sport’s most skilled technicians when Costa Rica beat Panama 6-1 in Concacaf Olympic qualifying on 28 January 2020.

Her volley from a corner to give her side a 3-1 lead generated particular excitement in Houston, Texas, and was followed by countless replays.

"There are so many things that can happen to make it go wrong, like hitting it with the wrong part of your leg or a deflection, but I think I hit it with a lot of conviction and it was a very important goal for us. Maybe when you’re younger you want to control the ball before hitting it, but in this case we applied the tactics the coach wanted and the end result was a very good goal. It was a perfect ball, a perfect shot and a perfect play." Shirley Cruz

Will this perfectly executed volley get enough votes to win the FIFA Puskás Award 2020?