Robert Lewandowski wins 2020 Best FIFA Men's Player award

Robert Lewandowski, a Polish national football team player and a striker of the Bayern Munich in the German professional football league, was voted the 2020 Best FIFA Men's Player award.

In the FIFA Best Awards 2020 held in the International Federation of Association Football’s headquarters in Zurich on Friday, Lewandowski grabbed the award this year, which Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus had been awarded in turn. The two global stars received the award for five times each from 2008 to 2017, followed by Luka Modric of Real Madrid in 2018. The award returned to Messi last year. 　

Leading the Bayern Munich to win the league in eight consecutive years, Lewandowski boasted impressive scoring power by chalking up 34 goals in 31 matches, the most goals of the previous season in Bundesliga. He also contributed greatly to his team earning two more honorable titles in the DFB-Pokal and the UEFA Champions League by scoring six and 15 goals, respectively, which all added up to 55 goals in total.

The selection of awardees was determined by the aggregate of votes by each FIFA member state’s national team coach and captain, press members and fans. Lewandowski ranked first with 52 points, followed by Ronaldo (38 points) and Messi (35 points).

Portuguese national team captain Ronaldo chose Lewandowski (1st), Messi (2nd) and PSG forward Kylian Mbappe (3rd). Polish national team captain Lewandowski plumped for Thiago Alcantara (1st), PSG forward Neymar (2nd) and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (3rd). Argentine captain Messi chose Neymar, Mbappe and Lewandowski.

South Korean national captain Son Heung-min selected Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo. South Korea’s head coach Paulo Bento voted for Lewandowski, Liverpool winger Sadio Mane and Ronaldo. Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp was awarded the 2020 FIFA Men’s Coach in recognition of his leadership in Liverpool’s championship of the English Premier League in 30 years. Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze was named the women's player of the year.


Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com