In 2020, the awarding of football’s most prestigious individual prize, France Football’s Ballon d’Or, was cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. The favourite was then the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski who scored 55 goals with his club Bayern Munich.
This year again, “Lewy” is among part of the shortlist along with the Frenchman Karim Benzema, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, the Brazilian Jorginho and the unavoidable Argentina Lionel Messi.
People who think Lewandowski deserves Ballon d'or.
Michael Owen (Liverpool)
Rivaldo (Barcelona)
Bigger Suarez ( Barcelona)
Rio Ferdinand ( Manchester United) pic.twitter.com/HXKGOagBlq— Gorakhpur Goretzka (@nossy22) November 18, 2021
In the last weeks, Robert Lewandowski has received the support of several football stars in his run for the award. Among them, Manchester City’s Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne who argued that the last two years should be taken into account. More recently, it is the former Liverpool and Manchester United forward Michael Owen who expressed his opinion on the matter.
“It [2021 Ballon d’ Or] is very open this year. Of course, Messi and Ronaldo over the last decade or so have dominated it (…) I thought Lewandowski was so unfortunate not to win it in the COVID year (…) I would probably go with him. There are other candidates, don’t get me wrong, Mo Salah’s had a great season, although he’s not won anything. Jorginho, on the other hand, for Chelsea, [has] won everything. But I am not sure he’s potentially good enough to win it ahead of players like Lewandowski, and so I would probably go with him. He has won the Bundesliga again,” Owen told Euronews.
“His numbers are quite staggering. His goals in the last year. So I think I would go for Lewandowski. It would be an absolute crime if he went through his career without winning. He is a stunning player,” he added.
Robert Lewandowski (33) is currently at the very peak of his career. He scores in virtually every single game he plays and breaks records on a regular basis. On the 22nd of May 2021, he broke Gerd Müller’s mythical record of 40 goals scored in a single season in the German league (Bundesliga). This year, he is already the best scorer of the ongoing Bundesliga season and has à total of 8 goals scored in only 4 Champions League games.
Michael Owen won the Ballon d’Or in 2001. The winner of the 2021 Ballon d’Or will be announced on the 29th of November.
Source: dailypost.ng
Sébastien Meuwissen
Photo: Twitter @themichaelowen, @lewy_official
