The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award winner Robert Lewandowski has revealed why he voted for Jorginho over Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Bayern Munich forward believes he took a “neutral” view of the nominees and adjudged the Chelsea star to be better than the two superstars.
In a star-studded event in Zurich, FIFA awarded the best athletes of the sport on Monday. Bayern’s Polish forward Lewandowski won The Best Men’s Player award, beating the other two finalists, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah to it.
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For the first time in the award ceremony’s history, Cristiano Ronaldo did not make the top-three shortlist. FIFA, however, did not let the Manchester United forward leave empty-handed.
They honored him with a Special Award for becoming the all-time leading international goalscorer. But Messi was unsurprisingly included in FIFPro World XI.
In the aftermath of the ceremony, all votes were made public, including Lewandowski’s. Surprisingly, he gave his top vote to Jorginho, instead of any nominated forward. His second and third votes went to Messi and Ronaldo, respectively.
Explaining his vote, Lewandowski said it was important for him to be neutral and reward Jorginho for his Champions League and Euro-winning displays.
Speaking in a presser, the Bayern forward said: “I always look at the attacking players, but what Jorginho has won also means a lot. You have to stay neutral. Jorginho also scored important goals and showed a great style of play.”
He added: “There is no need to talk about Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They always have great quality.”
In 2021, Chelsea midfielder Jorginho became the first player in history to win the Champions League and European Championship in the same year.
While Lewandowski’s votes have stirred up controversy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s votes were hardly unorthodox. the Argentine and the Portuguese did not spare a vote for one another.
The PSG forward’s top vote went to Neymar, the second vote to Mbappe, and his third went to Karim Benzema. The Manchester United number 7, on the other hand, voted for Lewandowski, Jorginho, and N’Golo Kante, in that order.
