In football, the constant chatter still centres around two powerhouses: Argentine and Portuguese legends. It also deviates towards Paul Pobga and Kylian Mbappe, though occasionally. However, the spotlight never falls on a tireless warrior from another country and league: Robert Lewandowski of Poland and Bayern Munich. Several eyebrows were raised when Ballon D’or 2021 fell on the lap of Lionel Messi for the seventh time despite the Pole having a scintillating season at the Bundesliga circuit. In such a backdrop, the Bayern striker winning the FIFA’s Best player of the year award 2021 for the second time in a row come across as perfect revenge for the ever-growing neglect.
The honour was hardly a surprise looking at his exploits in the Bundesliga campaign – 19 goals in 17 games in the first half of the latest season. He is even ruling the roost by edging past Messi (43/62) by scoring 69 goals from 59 matches in a calendar year. So, it is only apt to decode what makes this Bayern striker special.
Swift And Impeccable Timing
The athleticism of Lewandowski knows no bounds as once his feet start moving the Pole becomes untraceable for the opposition. At 21 miles per hour in the 2017-18 season, the Bayern striker was second only to his teammate Kingsley Coman. Hence, with such swiftness, it becomes very tough for the opponents to match up to his nimble footwork as he relies more on sprinting ability than his level of endurance. The other thing that sets him apart is his uncanny ability to save his energy for critical moments to seize the initiative in the games. Lewandowski’s unpredictability in terms of strikes has always left the opposition in a daze.
Ability To Be At The Right Spot
This is one capability that has left everyone stunned, including his teammates. The Pole keeps finding the right place at the right time to strike gold during key occasions. For Example, in the 2017-18 season, he scored 27 out of 29 times in Bundesliga from the interior part of the penalty area. Lewandowski’s strength of positioning himself perfectly enables Bayern to score more often than not even if the ball deflects off a rival player.
Elastic Flexibility
Lewandowski’s flexibility is something footballers can only dream of. Apart from netting goals through his potent right foot, the Bayern striker has even scored through left foot and headers as well.
He has a perfect combo of footwork as well as acrobatics to get the better of the opponents. With the variety of skills at his disposal to score goals consistently, for Poland as well as Bayern, Lewandowski becomes a ticking time-bomb that can finish off the opposition at any time. And the consistency on his part over the years has already put him in an enviable spot in the league circuit.
Superior Penalty Record
The penalty misses have proved costly for several teams, Diego Maradona is not around but the legend’s face betrayed all when he missed for Argentina in the 1990 World Cup Quarters. But when it comes to Lewandowski, he has so far had feel-good romantic relations with the penalty kicks. The Bayern striker has a 90 per cent success rate with regard to spot-kicks. In 33 out of 36 games when the Pole had taken the penalty kicks his side has ended up on the winning side. Needless to say, the Poland striker is unarguably one of the best in football history when it comes to converting the penalties to goals.
