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ESPN staff 6y

Faiz Subri congratulates Olivier Giroud on FIFA Puskas win

Malaysia's Faiz Subri has dismissed comparisons between the wonder goal that won him the 2016 FIFA Puskas Award, and Olivier Giroud's scorpion kick, which scooped the 2017 title this week.

Penang FA winger Faiz stunned Asian football with his incredible, swerving free kick against Pahang in a Malaysia Super League (MSL) fixture in Feb. 2016.

The unique trajectory of the strike drew the attention of the football world and led to him lifting the FIFA award last year.

At Monday's The Best FIFA awards ceremony in London, Arsenal and France striker Giroud took this year's Puskas award for best goal for an acrobatic effort against Crystal Palace in a Premier League clash in January.

Faiz admitted that both strikes had their merits, but insisted it was impossible to make a comparison, due to the differences.

"Firstly, I want to congratulate Giroud for winning the award," Faiz told the New Straits Times.

"He deserved to receive the FIFA award because it was a unique goal in itself. I cannot compare my goal with [Giroud's] because my goal was from a dead ball."

Bizarrely, Giroud's effort didn't even win the Premier League's own Goal of the Month, never mind Goal of the Season.

One year after claiming the prestigious award, Faiz faces an uncertain future after Penang were relegated from the MSL. He has indicated that he wants to stay at the club, but is still waiting on the offer of a new contract.

Faiz, who turns 30 next month, has never been capped by Malaysia at senior level, and has not always been a regular starter in his three seasons at Penang.

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