Designated best European player in October, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice on Thursday by snatching the Fifa “The Best” award from the clutches of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Among the ladies, Lucy Bronze takes a 2020 trophy to the taste of Ballon d’Or.
Fifa has put an end to a suspense all relative on the occasion of a ceremony without an audience, Covid-19 requires, broadcast on its digital networks. Yes, the 2019-20 season is indeed that of “Lewy”! The Bayern Munich center forward had so far not been able to shake up the sacred monsters Ronaldo-Messi, the two other finalists who shared three of the four “The Best” trophies and eleven of the last twelve Balloons d’Or, only yielding against Croatian Luka Modric in 2018. At 32, he made up for it in this singular year when the Ballon d’Or, supreme award awarded by France Football, was canceled for the first time since 1956, as the pandemic disrupted the season.
The sparkling form of the Pole, it has not known an eclipse. A real goal machine, the former Borussia Dortmund has stacked 55 in 47 matches in all competitions, including 15 in 10 Champions League games. The golden quintuplet of Bayern, on the national scene (Championship, Cup and German Supercup) and continental (C1 and European Supercup) owes a lot to the N.9 who attacked 2020-2021 foot to the floor, with already 18 goals in 17 matches. “I am very proud and very happy,” said Robert Lewandowski. I have to honestly say it’s a big day for me and for my club. I just have to thank because this award also belongs to my teammates and my coach. it’s an incredible feeling. Winning a prize in front of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo means a lot to me (…) It has not been an easy year, as it has for the whole world, but we won everything we could win. The highlight was the victory in the Champions League final against PSG, it was a special day. “
The coaches and captains of the national teams, journalists and internet users called upon to designate the best player of the year 2019-20, therefore preferred to Messi and Ronaldo, with still giant statistics but penalized by the record of their respective teams. The 33-year-old Argentinian, still top scorer in La Liga with Barça last season, ceded the championship to Real and left C1 on a historic beating in the quarterfinals against Bayern (8-2). At 35, Portuguese Ronaldo came closer to 40 goals in a season that ended with elimination in the eighth against Lyon. “I am really disappointed that there is no Ballon d’Or this year,” told the Figaro, Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. I think so. We are fortunate to have two fantastic players in our team: Manuel Neuer who I consider the best goalkeeper in history and Robert Lewandowski who scores a lot of goals but not only. We have other very good players like Kimmich, Alaba, Pavard, “King” (Coman) but these two have made a very special season. “
Bronze, elected surprise
Lyon saw its former defender Lucy Bronze, part of OL this summer after a third consecutive coronation in the Champions League, win the prize for best player. The 29-year-old Englishwoman, now at Manchester City, was surprised to win ahead of her former captain Wendie Renard and Danish striker Pernille Harder, the other two finalists. Another disappointment for OL: their coach Jean-Luc Vasseur did not receive the women’s coach of the year award, awarded to Netherlands coach Sarina Wiegman. The consolation prize came from Sarah Bouhaddi (34), named best goalkeeper for the 2019-20 fiscal year a year after the Dutch Sari van Veenendaal.
Among the men, the trophy fell into the gloves of the German Manuel Neuer, captain of Bayern only caught failing twice during the “Final-8” won by the Munich in August. It is “one of the best seasons of my career”, with an “incredible” performance in conclusion in Lisbon, commented the 34-year-old goalkeeper, preferred to Slovenian Jan Oblak, the last bulwark of Atlético Madrid, and the Brazilian Alisson Becker of Liverpool. The Reds can console themselves with the coach of the year award given to the German Jürgen Klopp, already crowned last year and who in June offered Liverpool a title of champion of England behind which he had been racing for thirty years. Finally, the Puskas prize for the most beautiful goal of the year was presented to the South Korean Heung-min Son, author of a memorable lonely raid with Tottenham, wiping out half of Burnley’s team with his dribbling and acceleration. lightning before concluding the action without trembling.
.
