Ex-Russian international Oleg Salenko, who was the highest scorer of the 1994 World Cup, is trying to sell his Golden Shoe award.The striker scored six goals in his three group-stage games at the tournament, which was held in the United States 14 years ago.
The 40-year-old told Ukrainian BLIC newspaper that sheiks from the United Arab Emirates are willing to pay $500,000 for the precious item.
"The Arab tycoons say that they will treat it [the Golden Shoe] as a relic, placing the statuette in a local museum for everybody to see. They also have plans to organize a football tournament in the Emirates in the near future, which will be known as the Golden Shoe,” Oleg Salenko said.
The former Dinamo Kiev and Valencia footballer explained that it was the financial crisis which forced him to come to the decision.
I had a small business that staggered in the time of crisis. Loans are crippling, and something needs to be done about it. I can cope without selling the award, my situation is not that bad, but it’s hard to resist the proposal from the Arabs,” he explained.
Salenko has not yet sealed the deal with businessmen from the Middle East.
"I want the Golden Shoe to stay in Ukraine or Russia. If somebody offers me the same sum, I’ll refuse the Arabs. I’m now taking a break for a few weeks to wait for a proposal from the former Soviet Union space,” he said.
Oleg Salenko had just nine caps for Russia during his career. He scored six goals for his country, with all of the coming at the World Cup 1994.
The striker converted a penalty in the game against Sweden and scored five in a clash with Cameroon, setting the World Cup record for most goals scored in one game.
Bulgarian star Hristo Stoichkov also got six goals in the bag in the US, but he had played more games as his team took part in the game for bronze.
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