In the voting of selected players, national coaches, journalists and fans, the Pole prevailed against the six-time winner Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool). David Alaba was voted into the FIFA world selection.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel was honored as world coach after the “Blues” triumph in the Champions League. The 48-year-old prevailed against Italian coach Roberto Mancini and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.
The Spaniard Alexia Putellas from FC Barcelona, who had already been voted Europe’s best player, was honored as the best player in the world. The world goalkeeper award went to Chelsea’s Édouard Mendy.
Lewandowski had improved Bayern legend Gerd Müller’s age-old goal record for goals in a season from 40 to 41 goals last season. The 33-year-old scores again regularly in the current season. “Everything that happened last year, the Bundesliga record, I would never have dared to dream of it. If you had told me that a few years ago, I would not have believed it,” said the goalgetter.
At the European Championships in the summer, however, he and Poland were eliminated in the group phase. Messi, on the other hand, won the Copa America with Argentina and thus his first major title in the national jersey.
Lewandowski was in the FIFA World XI, along with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was honored as the top scorer for the national team at the end of the gala. After being nominated several times in recent years, Alaba made it into the selection for the first time, which, according to the Fifpro players’ union, was voted for by almost 19,000 professionals.
Danish national team honored
It got emotional during the gala when the fair play award was presented. The national players and the medical staff of the Danish selection were awarded after the drama about star player Christian Eriksen. The 29-year-old collapsed on the lawn on June 12, 2021 during the European Championship group match between Denmark and Finland in Copenhagen and had to be revived. Meanwhile, the visibly shocked Denmark internationals formed a protective circle around their team-mate. The FIFA Fan Award went to the Danish and Finnish fans.
Source: Nachrichten