Robert Lewandowski’s old comments on accepting 2020 Ballon d'Or resurface as France Football consider huge twist
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski's comments from April about accepting the 2020 Ballon d'Or at a later stage have resurfaced on the internet amid talks of France Football considering giving him the award.
In an interview with SportBild in April this year, Lewandowski said it would be a great honor for him to accept the 2020 Ballon d'Or, even if it's four years late.
"Let's put it this way: if I received the 2020 Ballon d'Or four years later, I would not feel offended. It would be a great honor and I would accept the award," the Polish striker said.
Robert Lewandowski had also mentioned that 2020 and 2021 were the best years of his career and that he believed he would have won the coveted award in one of the two years.
"2020 and 2021 were the best years of my career. A friend recently sent me a statistic: I scored 100 goals in 85 games. Of course, I would have liked to receive the Ballon d’Or award one day. It’s not that I’m angry or wistful because this trophy is still missing. But my feeling is that it would have been my turn in one of the two years," Lewandowski added.
The former Bayern striker had won the Champions League, the Bundesliga, and the German Cup with Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season, scoring 55 goals and providing 10 assists in 47 appearances across competitions. He also won the FIFA Men's Best Player award in 2020.
The Polish striker was widely considered the unparalleled winner of football's highest honor that season, but the award was canceled owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It resumed the following year, with Lionel Messi winning the award following Argentina's triumph in the 2021 Copa America. However, according to a recent report by Spanish media outlet SPORT, Lewandowski could reportedly be given his due credit.
Lionel Messi believed Robert Lewandowski deserved the 2020 Ballon d'Or
Lionel Messi, who won the 2021 Ballon d'Or, firmly believed that Robert Lewandowski deserved the award in the previous season.
In his acceptance speech at the ceremony, Messi said the Barcelona striker should have won the award in 2020. He also urged France Football to honor him with the award.
"I'd like to mention Robert, it's been a real honour to compete with him. Everyone knows and we agree that you were the winner last year. I think France Football should award you your 2020 Ballon d'Or, you deserved it." Messi said (via SPORTbible).
The Polish striker left Bayern Munich in 2022 to join Messi's former club Barcelona. It remains to be seen whether Robert Lewandowski will receive the 2020 award or not. If he does, it would be the first time in history a player would receive the coveted France Football award after four years.