Polish star Lewandowski becomes Best FIFA Men’s Player

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski won the Best FIFA Men’s Player 2020 award on Thursday.

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 ceremony was virtually held in the FIFA Headquarters in Switzerland's Zurich as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The 32-year-old Polish international has been one of the integral parts of the German team, having contributed to Bayern's 2020 success in local and international campaigns.

Lewandowski-led Bayern Munich made the quintuple, winning all trophies for the 2019-2020 season including the German top-tier division Bundesliga, German Cup, German Super Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Super Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino gave the trophy to Lewandowski in person.

Lewandowski beat Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi to have this year's individual award.

Meanwhile for the ladies, Manchester City's Lucy Bronze, 29, had the Best FIFA Women’s Player 2020 award.

English right back Bronze helped her former club Olympique Lyon win the 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League.

Bronze is also playing for the English national team.

- FIFA commemorates legends who died in 2020

Separately during the ceremony, FIFA honored Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona, sharing a video including his goals for Argentina in the World Cups, especially his scenes during the 1986 FIFA World Cup that Argentina won.

A beloved Napoli player, Maradona died of heart failure last month at the age of 60 as the world has mourned his passing.

FIFA also commemorated Italy's ex-forward Paolo Rossi. A brief video footage showed his moment of joy when Italy won the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Rossi scored six goals for Italy in the 1982 World Cup, making him the tournament's top scorer.

Italian legend Rossi died last week. He was 64.

- 2020 award winners:

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Sarah Bouhaddi (Olympique Lyon).

The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich).

The FIFA Puskas Award (the most beautiful goal): Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) for his goal against Burnley in the English Premier League.

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (Dutch national team).

The Best FIFA Men's Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool).

The FIFA Fair Play: Mattia Agnese (Ospedaletti Calcio) for saving life of his opponent during a match.

The FIFA Fan Award: Marivaldo Francisco da Silva. He walked 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) to watch his team Sport Club do Recife's home games.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze (Manchester City).

The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich).