Mattie Burrows wonder strike up for goal of season
A Glentoran player who scored a wonder goal last month has said it's "surreal" his strike has been shortlisted for the Fifa Goal of the Year.
Mattie Burrows' back flick against Portadown on 5 October is on a shortlist of 10 goals in the running for the Ballon d'Or - Puskas Award.
The goal has become an internet sensation, racking up millions of views on websites across the world.
It even appeared on the big screen in New York's Times Square.
The 25-year-old's jumping backheel volley came in the 92nd minute of Glentoran's 1-0 victory at the Oval.
"I think it's one of those ones if you tried it 100 times it wouldn't come off, but thankfully it came off on the night - I caught it perfectly," Mattie said.
"I knew it was a good goal at the time, but the next few days it went a bit crazy.
"It ended up on Youtube and got millions of hits and I was doing interviews with Talksport and Sky Sports and they were telling me there were people watching it in Brazil."
All the goals up for the award will be available to see on the Fifa website later this month and football fans across the world can vote for their favourite.
The winner will be presented with their award in Zurich on 10 January, 2011, the same event at which other honours such as world player of the year will be handed out.
Mattie said it would be amazing to rub shoulders with some of the world's best players at the awards if he wins.
"It would be surreal sitting beside (Lionel) Messi and people like Wesley Sneijder," he said.
"They'll probably all be wearing £2,000 suits, but just to be there sitting beside people like that would be unbelievable - I think I could just retire now."