FIFA awards matter more than Ballon d'Or, feels Robert Lewandowski 

Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski has not got over the FIFA BEST men’s player of the year hangover. He strongly feels that the awards presented by the governing body of football are more authentic than the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. It is as the FIFA awards are presented after the votes from professionals and journalists while the latter sticks to votes from the journalists only with little verification, believes the Polish forward. However, he mentioned that the Ballon d’Or remains ahead, in terms of prestige. 

“I’ve been thinking about the two awards lately,” Lewandowski told Polish outlet Pilka Nozna. I have come to the conclusion that the FIFA award does matter more than the Ballon d’Or. Only journalists vote in the latter – there is no clear verification, as many experts or former and current footballers have said. Professionals and journalists vote for it in FIFA; team captains, coaches, and they can realistically and objectively evaluate our achievements, because they know how much each match, each record, each injury costs us.

“Maybe in terms of prestige, the Ballon d’Or is positioned higher than the FIFA Footballer of the Year, but knowing that I have received the best footballer of the world award for the second time in a row in the voting from coaches and players makes me proud, because I know how hard I have worked for many years.”

The two-time FIFA BEST men’s player and Bayern Munich star is capable of improving himself furthermore and breaking his own single-season Bundesliga record. He scored 41 times across the 2020/21 campaign to best a record, set by the late Gerd Muller, that had stood for 49 years. He also leads the tally of most goals in the German league with 23 goals in 22 fixtures in the ongoing 2021-22 season which is one less than his tally from the previous season after the same number of matches.

Although Lewandowski swiped the FIFA BEST men’s player award twice in a row, he remains bereft of a Ballon d’Or, despite his breathtaking performance. He finished only behind Argentine megastar Lionel Messi for the honours which took place earlier this year.

READ MORE: Robert Lewandowski can break his own Bundesliga record: Jurgen Klinsmann

Lewandowski also opined that Borussia Dortmund’s rising star Erling Haaland could turn out to be one of the greatest goal scorers of the game in near future.

“Haaland is a great player who is fun to watch,” Lewandowski said.

“Everyone develops differently. He’s strong, fast, physical. His game is based on that. I have different qualities. And we don’t know how he will develop,” he added.

The Polish also mentioned that, at 33, he is far from finished.