While he would have probably deserved the 2020 Ballon d’Or, Robert Lewandowski finished second behind Messi the following season by being ultra successful with Bayern Munich. But the Pole failed to convince the world of football who felt that the Pulga trophy with Argentina allowed him to have the reward this year.
In an interview at the teamGerman legend Jurgen Klinsmann has explained what Lewandowski lacked to be on the level of Messi and Ronaldo. “The more titles you win, the better your reputation. But at a certain point, the national team plays a role too. Winning a Euro helped Ronaldo a lot in this recognition. Messi also knows that to be considered at the level of Maradona in Argentina, he will need to win the World Cup in Qatar. It’s kind of sad, in a way, because we love Messi for who he is and everything he’s done. But he still won an international competition with the Copa América (in 2021). For Robert, there is a handicap in not being able to win a World Cup with Poland. I would say that there is also something in his personality: he is an extremely positive person but he is not always going out. He is not in a permanent promotion of himself.
