NO! Heartbreak as Stephanie Roche misses out on FIFA Puskás Award

It wasn't meant to be.

Stephanie Roche missed out on the FIFA Puskás Award for 2014 after the awards gala this evening in Zurich. The Irish girl had moved to favourite in the voting just before the ceremony but she was beat to the post by James Rodríguez's strike for Colombia in the World Cup against Uruguay. Roche had found a wealth of backers from some of the most prestigious names in sport after her sensational effort for Peamount United but there was no award for her at the end of it despite hoards of fans getting behind her push to be crowned champion. She did beat Manchester United striker Robin van Persie in the voting but, despite amassing 1.1 million votes, it was second place for Stephanie.

WOW! 3.3million votes cast. @jamesdrodriguez 42%; @StephanieRoche9 33%; @Persie_Official 11%; Others 14%. #Puskas pic.twitter.com/5IEMmyXfId — FIFA Women'sWorldCup (@FIFAWWC) January 12, 2015

In the end, Real Madrid ace James Rodriguez took the gong after this admittedly fine attempt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GESyL3MkgNU Call us biased though, but we think this should've won. It's still the winner in our eyes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpBvBRn4juw Roche is expected to move to an English Premier League team this spring. Albi, her French club, revealed on January 6 that they 'won't hold Stephanie back' from a dream transfer. Any move to England would certainly increase her current footballing wage of €800 a month.