FIFA Puskas Award 2014: Voting Results and Reaction for James Rodriguez's Goal

James Rodriguez was named the winner of the 2014 Puskas Award on Monday evening, beating Stephanie Roche and Robin van Persie to the accolade for his goal against Uruguay in last year's World Cup.

FIFA's official Twitter account confirmed the individual award, celebrating the goal which beat countless candidates to ultimately be dubbed the best of 2014: 

Bleacher Report UK confirmed that Rodriguez won with 42 percent of the poll:

Stephanie Roche, who was also up for the award, offered a comment on the result and her congratulations to Rodriguez:

Rodriguez was a revelation for Colombia at the 2014 World Cup and claimed his place as top scorer in Brazil, but of the six goals scored, his opener against Uruguay in the round of 16 was by some margin his best.   

Abel Aguilar headed a seemingly harmless pass to the South American near the edge of La Celeste's area before Rodriguez swivelled onto his left foot, unleashing a volley of thunderous quality in from long range.

Who Ate All The Pies illustrates the reaction Rodriguez's goal coaxed, showing footage of the stupendous effort:  

Fernando Muslera of Uruguay had little chance of keeping the effort out, watching as it thudded the underside of his cross bar and in. The Guardian's Michael Cox shared fan footage of the goal, which seems to get better and better from every angle at which it's viewed:

Brian McNally of the Mirror shared his commiserations for unsuccessful nominee Stephanie Roche, but rightfully added that her very inclusion in the final three is a boost for the women's game:

Amy Lawrence of The Guardian reinforces just how significant it is that Roche took so many votes:

It was thanks to quality such as this that Rodriguez would later earn a big-money move to Real Madrid from Monaco last summer.  

Just to feature at the World Cup is an incredible pressure for someone so young, but 23-year-old Rodriguez thrived under that burden to score what was deservedly dubbed 2014's Goal of the Year on the biggest stage of all.