Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski won the Gerd Muller trophy at the 2022 Ballon d’Or on Monday in Paris. The Gerd Muller trophy is awarded to the highest goal scorer in club football across all top leagues in the world. The 34-year-old scored 35 goals in the Bundesliga and 15 in the Champions League, taking the total to a whopping 50.
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The trophy is named after the former Germany striker Gerd Muller who was known in his time for his excellent finishing skills. He is regarded as one of the most lethal goal-scorers in the history of the game.
France Football, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or, instituted the award in the footballer’s honour after he passed away in August 2021. With Lewandowski winning it in 2022, he became the first recipient of the award.
Lewandowski can be best described as an underachiever when it comes to the Ballon d’Or award. Last year, he was the favourite to receive it but lost it to Lionel Messi who took home his seventh Ballond’Or award from France football.
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Even while Messi was receiving the award, he told the audience that Lewandowski deserved it more than him.
The Polish striker left his former club Bayern Munich in the 2022 season and joined Barcelona. He has had a good start to the season so far scoring nine goals in La Liga and five in the UEFA Champions League for the Catalans.
Also read: What is the Socrates Award?
Along with Lewandowski, France Football awarded Sadio Mane the inaugural Socrates award for his contribution off the field. Timo Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper, won the Yashin trophy.
The Ballon d’Or 2022 was won by Karim Benzema of Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi won the award five and seven times each, respectively. However, while Ronaldo finished 20th in the list this year, Lionel Messi did not receive a nomination in the final list.
