It's absolutely crazy- Fabio Quagliarella on Puskas nomination

The veteran striker spoke to FIFA.com on his heroics for Sampdoria and on his goal being nominated for the Puskas Award.

Fabio Quagliarella continues the rich Italian trend of getting better with age having had a dream run in the 2018-19 season with Sampdoria as the winner of the Capocannoniere award - Serie A top scorer with 26 goals at the ripe old age of 36. 

To add shine to his star, his audacious back-heel goal against his former club Napoli on Matchday three has been recently nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award 2019. 

The Italian was elated on his nomination for the prestigious award saying, "It's absolutely crazy, for them to choose your goal out of all men's and women's championships around the world is pretty crazy."

Talking about his goal, the veteran striker said, “The only thought in my head was that I was going to back-heel it rather than use my instep. If I’d hit it with my instep, it would have gone slowly towards the keeper. So the only thing I wanted to do was connect with my heel so it would go faster. And it came off, amazingly well in fact.”

Quagliarella not only showed his class with the goal but also did by not celebrating his thrilling strike out of respect for his former team and also as a tribute to the 43 victims of the Morandi Bridge Disaster that occurred in Genoa 20 days before the game. 

The former Juve striker expressed delight, but also made mention of his surprise at the season gone by claiming it to be an "outstanding" campaign.

“If someone had told me what was going to happen, I would have called them mad,” he said. “When you’re a forward you always dream of being the top scorer, but it’s hard to do in Serie A, especially when Cristiano Ronaldo’s in his first season here."

“The icing on the cake was being recalled to the national team and becoming the country’s oldest goalscorer, the season couldn’t have gone any better for me,” the native of Naples mentioned. 

Now in his fourth season with the Genoa-based club, Quagliarella will look to lead his side to European competition having finished ninth last season despite the forward's brilliant displays. 

His feats on the pitch coupled by the possibility of lifting the Puskas on the podium at Milan on 23rd September might just provide the impetus that spurs the battle-hardened forward in his quest for individual and collective supremacy.