Robert Lewandowski was adjudged the Men’s Player of the Year during FIFA The Best 2021 awards. However, he did not have the vote of Lionel Messi. Here’s what he feels about it.
On Monday, Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski won the Men’s Player of the Year award during FIFA The Best 2021 award ceremony in Zurich. It was the second time in a row that the Bayern Munich striker had won the prestigious honour. However, when it came to voting for the award, former one-time winner Lionel Messi of Argentine did not vote for Lewandowski.
Nevertheless, when asked the Polish how he felt about being snubbed by the Argentine over his vote, Lewandowski was unmoved. “You have to ask him about his voting. I think I didn’t do anything wrong and gave him reason to be upset aside from maybe sporting reasons. It was his decision not to vote for me, and I respect that,” he told Xinhua.
“At the Ballon d’Or, he voted me as the second. Now it’s a different competition. Maybe it’s why I voted him second at the Ballon d’Or,” Lewandowski added. Journalists vote the Ballon d’Or. However, The Best is voted by half of the voters in the form of national coaches and international players.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski rated FIFA The Best above Ballon d’Or. He feels that the voting of the coaches and the players matter more. “They know what it means to be and stay at a top-level,” he reckoned. Personally, he had voted for Jorginho, followed by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while he praised the Manchester United star for playing at the top-level in all instances.
Speaking on winning the award, Lewandowski considered, “It’s nothing for this season. And everything else is a thing of the next years. I do many things to keep at the top, but I still discover new things around my body. I gained a lot of experience that makes me currently stay in the best shape.”