Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who recently won the Golden Shoe award, has urged voters to vote for the best player in the world in the 2021 Ballon d’Or instead of voting for a specific individual.
Having scored a European-record 55 goals in all competitions Lewandowski was the overwhelming favorite to win the award last year, only for FIFA to cancel the award because to the COVID-19 outbreak.
However, even in 2021, he is still one of the favorites to win the award. The Polish player said at a news conference that he thinks his success with Bayern would put him in a good position to ultimately win it. “It’s difficult for me to say how important performances with the national team will be in the context of the Ballon d’Or,” he said.
“Obviously, any good performances can strengthen my position. The question is, are we including 2020, when the Ballon d’Or was cancelled, as well as what is happening in 2021? As a team, and individually…all the success we achieved. I don’t think I could have done any more, apart from national team success of course. I have shown that I am a player who is thinking about the Ballon d’Or.”
“It would be a great pride, a real honour. The mere fact that I am among the favourites in the era of Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have been out of reach for so many years, fills me with real pride. I hope that there will be no politics in all of this and votes will consider only what the player has achieved in the last season. Or, in the last two seasons, depending on how we’re interpreting this year’s edition.”
Unsurprisingly, Lewandowski has already scored a lot of goals this season. In just ten appearances, he has scored 13 goals, the kind of form that usually earns a player the Ballon d’Or.
