HomeGalera BlogBrazilian Football News2022 Puskas Award for Vasco de Gama’s Gabriel Pec?

2022 Puskas Award for Vasco de Gama’s Gabriel Pec?

Puskas 2022 Award for Vasco de Gama’s Gabriel Pec

On February 6, the match between Madureira and Vasco de Gama ended 1-3, but the result was not the most exciting part of the night for fans. The following day, Vasco de Gama tweeted a video replay of the first goal of the match, with the hashtag #Puskas2022.

The scoring was opened in the 5th minute after Brazilian starlet Gabriel Pec picked up the ball outside the box, and hit a powerful volley that smashed into the goal. The strike was lightning fast, and in replays fans could see the ball swerve powerfully through the air before it hit the top corner.

The goal is similar to the one scored by James Rodriguez in the 2014 World Cup against Uruguay, which won the 2014 Puskas Award. James Rodriguez's goal was really what brought him international attention, and after the World Cup he was signed by Real Madrid.

Who is Gabriel Pec?

Gabriel Fortes Chaves, known as Gabriel Pec, is an attacking player in Vasco de Gama. He mainly plays as a winger, although he has also played in an attacking midfield position. Born in 2001, he started playing at the Vasco de Gama youth academy in 2009. In 2019 he made his professional debut, and has scored 10 senior goals for the club. Coming up as a youth academy product, he is a popular player with fans and his thunder goal has made him a local hero.

Fans tweeted about Gabriel Pec's goal after the match:

"Esse golaço do Gabriel Pec, na última rodada do Vasco, eu não posso assistir nunca! Que pintura essa cara acertou no projeto, foi espetacular msm! Vem como um fortíssimo candidato a levar o Prêmio Puskás 2022 e oq depender dos Vascaínos, ele vai levar essa fácil",

(https://twitter.com/Vitorbarreto_10/status/1491174255719227394)

“Esse gol do Gabriel Pec me lembrou muito o gol do James Rodríguez contra o Uruguai no Mundial de 2014. (Sei que não foi no mesmo lado, mas falo do jeito de dominar a bola e finalizar)”

(https://twitter.com/DanielM_arlon/status/1490466021718867970)

One Vasco de Gama supporter said

“Totalmente pornográfico e proibido em 256 países.

O gol do James Rodrigues é bonito mas nem pega efeito e a bola é no meio do gol”

(https://twitter.com/VASCinado/status/1490416746951491584)

How do the Puskas Awards work?

Puskas Awards are given each year for the most beautiful goal scored. It is subjective, because there are many beautiful goals scored in football, but there are some criteria that the judges use to decide which goal will win:

It should be an absolutely beautiful goal (subjective, but decided by voting and judgement from experts - the spread of goals should include long-range shots, team goals, rabona, overhead kicks, individual plays, scorpion kicks, etc.).
It should be awarded "without distinction of championship, gender or nationality".
It should not be the result of luck, mistakes, deflection by another player or the player in an offside position.
It should support fair play, i.e. the player should not have behaved badly in the game or have been charged with doping, for example.
The player cannot be nominated with two different goals.

While the timeframe for the goal will be July 2021 to July 2022, fans will have to wait until December to find out whether the young Brazilian will be given the prize.

What is in the future for Gabriel Pec?

Gabriel Pec has had a good start to his 2022 season, he has already scored two goals in four games this season. Even if he has to wait to see if he will be given the Puskas Award, the goal will definitely boost his confidence and he will definitely start more games after impressing the club and fans with his effort.