“The 2021 Ballon d’Or is not his” - Super-agent Pini Zahavi says Robert Lewandowski should have won the award over Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi added another Ballon d’Or to his sextet, taking his remarkable tally to a record-breaking seventh. The Argentine was picked favorite as the Ballon d’Or 2021 Winner. The second place was awarded to Robert Lewandowski, while the third place belonged to Jorginho.
As soon as the winners of the final rankings were declared, renewed personnel and countless fans made their voices heard through social media as they were discontent with the award going to Lionel Messi. Their outrage was for denying Lewandowski his pending compensation for the canceled ceremony last year.
Lewandowski's agent, Pini Zahavi, has scrutinized the decision to award Lionel Messi this year's Ballon d'Or, claiming that his client would have been a more deserving winner. In an exclusive interview with TZ, he said:
"Huge congratulations to Messi, an impressive player and an eternal football legend, but the Ballon d'Or doesn't belong to him. Not this time. The golden ball belongs to Robert Lewandowski. Robert was not robbed, but he is the man, who deserves it."- Pini Zahavi on Lionel Messi winning the award.
#Lewandowski-Berater #Zahavi spricht in der tz: „Ganz große Glückwünsche an #Messi: ein beeindruckender Spieler und eine ewige Legende des Fußballs. Aber der #BallonDor 2021 gehört nicht ihm. Nicht dieses Mal. Der Goldene Ball gehört Robert Lewandowski.“ #FCBayern 1/2 @mano_bonke
"No wonder hundreds of millions of fans found the final result of this prestigious football event hard to believe. Monday night should have ended with Robert Lewandowski celebrating his first Ballon d'Or."- Zahavi concluded.
Lionel Messi's win casts a shadow over Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski remained in Lionel Messi's shadow unfavorably. The Polish international had an unimaginable record-breaking run in the Bundesliga during 2019-20. It will be an uphill struggle for anyone to replicate what he achieved that year.
Lewandowski's blistering performances have won him the individual accolades of the European Golden Shoe, the Best FIFA Men's Player, FIFA FIFPro World11, IFFHS World's Best Man Player, and IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer during the span of the last two seasons.
Interestingly, he also broke Gerd Müller's record of 40 goals in the 1971–72 season. With Bayern Munich, the forward has won everything there was during the 2019-20 season. His accolades included the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. The assemblage was undisputed.
The Ballon d'Or vote breakdown 🗳 https://t.co/2SpzwTX8IV
He was the ideal candidate to win the Ballon d’Or 2020. Unfortunately for him, France Football decided against organizing Ballon d’Or for 2020 due to the widespread outbreak of Covid-19.
Maybe in this regard, two new awards were introduced last night. One of them was the Best Striker of the Year while the other one was for the Best Club of the Year.
The 33-year-old Polish striker received the former one. Lewandowski was presented with the inaugural Best Striker of the Year award by France Football magazine. Henceforth, Lionel Messi received his seventh Ballon d’Or.
Still, this does not cover up the fact that the Bayern Munich number 9 was metaphorically robbed of cementing his legacy in the history books as one of the all-time best.