Robert Lewandowski In History
Robert Lewandowski (Polish
pronunciation: [ˈrɔbɛrt lɛvanˈdɔfskʲi] (
listen);
born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who
plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and is the captain of
the Poland
national team. He is renowned for his positioning, technique and
finishing, and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, and
one of the best strikers in Bundesliga history.
After being the top
scorer in the third and second tiers of Polish football with Znicz Pruszków, Lewandowski moved to
top-flight Lech Poznań, helping
the team win the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa.
In 2010, he transferred to Borussia Dortmund, where he won honours
including two consecutive Bundesliga titles and the league's top goalscorer award.
In 2013, he also featured with Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA
Champions League Final. Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season,
Lewandowski agreed to join Dortmund's domestic rivals, Bayern Munich, on
a free
transfer.[4] In Munich, he has won the
Bundesliga title in each of his first six seasons, and in 2016–17 and 2019–20 he
was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season. Lewandowski was integral in
Bayern's UEFA Champions League win
in 2019–20 as
part of a treble.
A full international for
Poland since 2008, Lewandowski has earned over 110 caps and was a member of
their team at UEFA Euro 2012, Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
With 61 international goals, Lewandowski is the all-time top scorer for Poland.
In 2015, he was voted Polish
Sports Personality of the Year. He has been named the Polish
Player of the Year a record eight times.
In 2016, Lewandowski
claimed fourth place at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Awards.
He has been named to the UEFA Champions League Squad
of the Season two times, and is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history
of the competition.[5] He has scored over 200 goals in
the Bundesliga, having reached the century mark quicker than any other foreign
player, and is the league's all-time
leading foreign goalscorer.[6] He also holds the record for
the fastest five-goal haul in any major European football league since records
have been kept, after scoring five times in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015.
Club career
Early
career
"When I was six, I remember Roberto Baggio at the 1994 World Cup.
When I was between 10 and 14, Alessandro Del Piero was
the best player for me. Then my idol was Thierry Henry. He was amazing – it wasn't just
how he scored the goals but what he did for the team."
—Lewandowski on his role
models growing up.[7]
Lewandowski was born
in Warsaw[8] and grew up in Leszno, Warsaw
West County.[9] He took his first steps in
football as an unregistered player for the local club, Partyzant Leszno.[10] In 1997, he joined MKS
Varsovia Warsaw, where as a teen he played for seven years.[11] The following year he moved to
Delta Warsaw, where he finally managed to play in the first team, scoring four
goals.[12]
In 2006–07, Lewandowski
was the Polish third division's
top goal scorer with 15 goals, helping Znicz Pruszków win promotion.[13] The next season he
was the top scorer in the Polish second division with
21 goals.[13]
Lech
Poznań
Lewandowski, playing
for Lech Poznań, was the
top scorer of the 2009–10 Ekstraklasa with
18 goals
In June 2008, Lech Poznań signed Lewandowski from Znicz
for 1.5 million PLN.[11][14] Earlier that month,
Lewandowski's agent Cezary Kucharski offered him to his
former team Sporting Gijón,
which had been promoted to the Spanish top league after ten years in the
second tier. However, Sporting rejected him.[15]
He made his debut for
Lech in July 2008 as a substitute in a first-round UEFA Cup qualifier versus Khazar Lankaran from Azerbaijan. In that match, he scored the only
goal of the match. During his Ekstraklasa debut in the first game of
the season in a match against GKS Bełchatów, he
scored a heel flick goal just four minutes after coming into the game late
second half. In his first season in
the Polish top division, he was second in the goal-scoring charts. He finished
the season with 18 goals in 42 matches.[16] The next season, he became the
top scorer with 18 goals and helped his team win the 2009–10 championship.[16]
English coach, Sam Allardyce, mentioned that Lewandowski was
about to join Blackburn Rovers in
2010, but the volcanic ash clouds caused by the 2010
eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull which suspended all flights in
and out of the U.K., in addition to other financial worries, prevented the
potential transfer.[17]
Borussia
Dortmund
2010–2012:
Debut season, league and cup double
Following press
speculation that Lewandowski might move to one of a number of clubs,[18][19] he joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in June 2010, signing a
four-year contract with the German club[20] for a fee reported to be worth
around €4.5 million.[21] On 19 September, he scored his
first goal in the Bundesliga to make it 3–0 in the Revierderby against Schalke 04; the game ended 3–1.[22]
In the 2011–12 Bundesliga
campaign, Lewandowski profited from an injury of Lucas Barrios and he was elevated to an
ever-present position in the starting XI until the winter break. The striker
responded by finding the net two times in Dortmund's 3–0 DFB-Pokal first round victory
over SV Sandhausen.[23] Lewandowski opened his league
account in a 2–0 win over 1. FC Nürnberg on 20 August 2011 by
providing the finishing touch from a Mario Götze cross.[24] On 1 October, Lewandowski
provided an assist and
netted a hat-trick in the club's 4–0 victory over FC Augsburg,[25] following a disappointing 3–0
loss to Olympique de
Marseille in the Champions
League group stage.[26] Dortmund climbed into second
place in the Bundesliga with
a comfortable 5–0 victory over 1. FC Köln on 22 October, with Lewandowski
finding the net either side of half-time.[27] Dortmund travelled to SC Freiburg on 17 December and
Lewandowski struck twice and provided an assist for Kevin Großkreutz,
as Dortmund eased to a 4–1 triumph.[28] Due to his strong
performances, he was named Best Player
of the Year in Poland.[29]
Following the winter
break, on 22 January 2012, Dortmund thrashed Hamburger SV 5–1 to move level on points
with leaders Bayern Munich;
Lewandowski netted twice and added an assist for Jakub Błaszczykowski in
the rout.[30] He scored in a 1–0 home win
over Bayern Munich on 11 April.[31] The result gave Dortmund a
six-point cushion over their title rivals with only four games left to play.[32] On 21 April, Lewandowski
provided the assist for Shinji Kagawa's 59th-minute goal as Dortmund
won 2–0 over Borussia
Mönchengladbach to seal their second straight title.[33] In the final Bundesliga game
of the campaign, Lewandowski scored two first-half goals as Dortmund beat
Freiburg 4–0 and celebrated lifting the title.[34]
Lewandowski finished the
year as the third top goal scorer with 22 goals, none from the penalty spot,
and six assists.[35]
In the final game of the
season for Dortmund, he scored a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal Final,
a 5–2 win over Bayern Munich, to earn the club its first league and cup double.[36][37] Lewandowski finished as the
DFB-Pokal's top goalscorer, with seven goals from six games.[38]
2012–2014:
Champions League runner-up, league top goalscorer and departure
Lewandowski playing for
Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal against Wilhelmshaven in August 2013
Lewandowski made his
first appearance of the Bundesliga campaign
in Dortmund's 2–1 victory over Werder Bremen on the opening day of the
season.[39] He netted his first goal in
the 3–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on
15 September 2012, extending Dortmund's run to 31 games unbeaten and moved the
club into third in the Bundesliga.[40] Three days later, in the
club's first Champions
League game of the season, Lewandowski netted an emphatic
87th-minute winner to defeat Ajax by a score of 1–0.[41] He set club's new record of
the longest scoring streak, having scored in 12 consecutive league games,
surpassing Friedhelm Konietzka's
record from 1964–65 season.[42] On 9 February 2013,
Lewandowski opened the scoring in a home match against Hamburger SV, but was
sent off in the 31st minute for a foul on Per Ciljan Skjelbred and
Dortmund lost 1–4. He finished season with 24 league goals, one goal short of
the Bundesliga's topscorer, Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Kießling.
According to Borussia
Dortmund director Michael Zorc,
speaking in February 2013, Lewandowski would not be renewing his contract with
the club, and would leave either in the summer of 2013 or after the 2013–14
season.[43]
On 24 April 2013,
Lewandowski became the first player to score four
goals in a Champions League semi-final as Borussia Dortmund
defeated Spanish champions Real Madrid 4–1 in the first leg at
BVB's Westfalenstadion.[44][45] On 25 May, he played in
the 2013 UEFA
Champions League Final in which Borussia were defeated 2–1 by
Bayern Munich.[46]
On 27 July 2013,
Lewandowski won the 2013 German Super Cup with Dortmund 4–2
against Bayern Munich.[47] He scored his first goal of
the season in Dortmund's 4–0 win over Augsburg in the club's opening Bundesliga
match on 10 August.[48] On 1 November, he scored his
only hat-trick of the season in a 6–1 Bundesliga win against VfB Stuttgart.[49]
On 25 February 2014,
Lewandowski scored twice in Champions
League round-of-16 first-leg against Zenit Saint
Petersburg, becoming BVB's overall top scorer in European
competition, surpassing Stéphane Chapuisat's
16 goals record.[50] He scored his 100th goal for
the club on his 182nd appearance, as Dortmund defeated VfL Wolfsburg in the semi-finals of
the DFB-Pokal on 16 April 2014, and revealed
a shirt with the number 100 in celebration.[51]
Lewandowski ended
the 2013–14
season as the top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with
20 goals.[52] He also scored six goals in
the Champions League, as Borussia reached the quarter-finals.[53] During the second leg of the
round of 16 match between Borussia Dortmund and Zenit, Lewandowski received a
second yellow card which resulted in him being suspended for the first leg of
the quarter-final against Real Madrid.
Lewandowski played his
final match for Dortmund in the 2014 German Cup final against
Bayern Munich on 17 May. Manager Jürgen Klopp had excused him from some
training ahead of the final due to injury concerns; although Lewandowski played
all 120 minutes of the final, Dortmund lost 2–0.[54] He finished the season with 28
goals in 48 matches.[47][55]
Bayern
Munich
2014–2017:
Collective and individual success
In November 2013,
Lewandowski confirmed he would sign a pre-contractual agreement for Borussia
Dortmund's rivals Bayern Munich[56] which officially happened on 3
January 2014; signing a five-year contract, joining the team at the start of
the 2014–15
season.[57] Lewandowski was officially presented
as a Bayern Munich player on 9 July 2014.[58]
Pre-season started on 9
July 2014[59] at which time he was
presented.[58] He made his pre–season debut
on 21 July 2014, scoring a goal in the process.[60] On 6 August, he opened the
scoring as Bayern contested the 2014 MLS All-Star
Game in Portland, Oregon, eventually losing 1–2.[61]
.jpg)
Lewandowski playing in
the Champions League against CSKA Moscow in October 2014
He made his competitive
debut for his new club in a 2–0 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 2014 German Super Cup on 13 August 2014,[62] and scored his first goal in a
1–1 draw against Schalke 04 in his second league match on 30 August.[63] On 1 November, in his first
league match against Dortmund, Lewandowski scored in a 2–1 win which put Bayern
four points clear at the top of the table while leaving his former club in a
relegation play-off place.[64] In his third match of the
season against Dortmund on 4 April 2015, Lewandowski scored in the 36th minute
in a 1–0 win.[65] He had scored after Roman Weidenfeller "parried" Thomas Müller's shot.[66]
On 21 February 2015,
Lewandowski scored twice in Bayern's 6–0 win away at SC Paderborn 07, his second goal of the game
was his 10th of the league season.[67] He scored twice in the first
half on 21 April as Bayern overturned a deficit from the first leg to
defeat FC Porto 7–4 on aggregate and advance to
the semi-finals of the Champions League.[68] Five days later, after VfL
Wolfsburg lost to Borussia
Mönchengladbach, Bayern won the Bundesliga title.[69] On 28 April, he scored again
in a DFB-Pokal semi-final against Dortmund, opening a 1–1 draw which ended in
Bayern's elimination via a penalty
shootout.[70] With 17 goals in 31 games,
Lewandowski was joint-second highest scorer of the Bundesliga season alongside
teammate Arjen Robben,
behind Eintracht Frankfurt's Alexander Meier.[71] He finished the season with 25
goals in 49 appearances.[62][72]
Lewandowski's second
season began with the German Super Cup on 1 August, with Bayern
losing in a penalty
shootout away to VfL Wolfsburg; he had been substituted in the
72nd minute for Rafinha.[73] Eight days later in the first round of the
DFB-Pokal, he scored the last goal in a 3–1 win against Oberliga
Baden-Württemberg club FC Nöttingen.[74] On 14 August, in the opening
match of the new Bundesliga season,
he scored the second goal of a 5–0 win over Hamburg.[75]
On 22 September 2015,
Lewandowski set a Bundesliga
record by coming on as a substitute with Bayern trailing 0–1 to
Wolfsburg and scoring five goals in 8 minutes and 59 seconds, the fastest by
any player in Bundesliga history, to take a 5–1 lead. He also set Bundesliga
records for the fastest hat-trick (three
goals in four minutes), and most goals scored by a substitute (five).[76] Lewandowski's five goals in
nine minutes was also the fastest in any major European football league
since Opta began
keeping records, and it ended Wolfsburg's 14-match unbeaten run.[77] He was awarded four
certificates by Guinness World
Records for this feat.[78]
Four days later, he
scored twice in a 3–0 win at 1. FSV Mainz 05, the first goal being his
100th Bundesliga goal on his 168th appearance, a league record for a foreign
player. He also reached 10 goals in the opening 7 matches with this brace, a
feat only done before by Gerd Müller.[79] On 29 September, he scored
a Champions
League hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb, putting him on ten goals in
three games in a week.[80] He added two in a 5–1 rout of
Dortmund five days later, to total 12 goals in his last four appearances.[81] On 24 October, Lewandowski
scored in a 4–0 home win over 1. FC Köln, a result which made Bayern the first
Bundesliga team ever to win all 10 of their opening games of a season.[82] The victory in Cologne was
also Bayern's 1,000th win in the Bundesliga.[83] On 11 January 2016, he
achieved fourth place at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or awards.[84]
On 19 March 2016,
Lewandowski scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Köln[85] to bring his league total up
to 25 goals; a new personal best.[85] He had scored 24 goals for
Borussia Dortmund during the 2012–13
season.[86] His goal against Atlético Madrid on
3 May in the second leg of Bayern's Champions League semi-final exit saw him
end the season's competition with nine goals.[87]
On 7 May 2016,
Lewandowski scored both goals for Bayern in a 2–1 win at FC Ingolstadt to confirm the Bavarian
club as champions
of Germany for the fourth consecutive season.[88] A week later, he scored his
30th goal of the season in Bayern's final league match of the season at home
to Hannover 96. This made him the first foreign
player to score 30 goals in the Bundesliga, the first player since Dieter Müller in 1976–77, and
secured him the Torjägerkanone for
the second time in three seasons.[89] He finished the season with 42
goals in 51 matches.[73][90]
The 2016–17
season started with Bayern winning the 2016 German Super Cup on 14 August 2016.[91] On 19 August, in the first round of the
DFB-Pokal, Bayern defeated Carl Zeiss Jena 5–0
with the help of Lewandowski's hat trick during the first half.[92] He also assisted Arturo Vidal's goal in the seventy-second
minute.[93] Lewandowski opened the 2016–17 Bundesliga season
with a hat trick in a 6–0 victory against Werder Bremen.[94] On 13 December, Lewandowski
signed a new contract with Bayern, keeping him at the club until 2021.[95]
Lewandowski in training
in March 2017
On 11 March 2017,
Lewandowski reached 100 goals for Bayern in his 137th appearance for the club,
scoring twice in a 3–0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in
the Bundesliga.[96] He finished the season with 42
goals in 47 matches.[91][97]
2017–present:
Back-to-back Golden Boot wins, Treble win
The season began
with Bayern Munich winning the 2017 German Super Cup against Borussia
Dortmund. Lewandowski scored the opening goal for Bayern by controlling a low
cross from Joshua Kimmich to
cancel out Christian Pulisic's opener.
The match ended 2–2 after extra time. Lewandowski again scored the first
penalty of the shootout as Bayern eventually won 5–4 to win the super cup.[98]
Lewandowski started from
where he left in the last season and once again was the top scorer in the early
stages of the Bundesliga. On 13 December 2017, in the league fixture against 1.
FC Köln, he scored the only goal of the game to reach the top ten of
goalscorers in the Bundesliga.[99] A couple of months later,
on Matchday 22,
Lewandowski again found the back of the net against Schalke 04 at Allianz Arena to equal the record of
scoring in 11 successive home games in a single season, a record also held by
then Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes.[100] He continued his goal scoring
form by scoring a hat-trick against Hamburger SV as the runaway leaders won
6–0, while he also missed a kick from the spot which would have been his fourth
goal of the day. This was his first penalty missed for Bayern in the
Bundesliga, nevertheless he scored the second spot kick to complete his
hat-trick.[101]
On 11 February 2018,
Lewandowski was voted Poland's Footballer of the Year for the seventh time in a
row.[102] On 22 February 2018,
Lewandowski fired his long-time agent, Cezary Kucharski. Lewandowski hired renowned
dealmaker Pini Zahavi as
his new agent. The hiring of Zahavi was rumoured to be the start of Lewandowski
trying to seal a summer move to Real Madrid.[103] On 24 February 2018,
Lewandowski played his 250th Bundesliga game against Hertha BSC.[104] On 19 May 2018, Lewandowski
scored Bayern Munich's only goal in a 3–1 defeat in the DFB-Pokal Final against Eintracht Frankfurt.[105]
Lewandowski finished the
season as the Bundesliga's top goalscorer with 29 goals. This was the third
time Lewandowski won the Bundesliga's top goalscorer award.[106] He finished the season with
41 goals in 48 matches in all competitions.[107]
On 1 August 2018, after a
summer of transfer speculation, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,
confirmed in an interview that Lewandowski would not be allowed to leave Bayern
Munich at any price. Rummenigge said "Our door remains closed, the top
quality we have at Bayern Munich will stay here. With Robert, we clearly want
to send a signal to people within and outside the club: Bayern Munich are
completely different to other clubs who get weak when certain sums are
mentioned"[108] On 12 August 2018,
Lewandowski recorded the first ever hat-trick in the German Super Cup against Eintracht
Frankfurt in the 2018 edition as
Bayern Munich went on to win the title for the record seventh time.[109] He also became the all-time
top scorer in the German Super Cup history.[110][111]
On 27 November 2018,
Lewandowski became the third-fastest player to score 50 goals in the Champions
League when he scored two goals in a 5–1 win over Benfica. It took Lewandowski just 77 Champions
League matches to reach the milestone.[112] Lewandowski finished as the
top scorer in the UEFA Champions League group stage with eight goals in six
matches.[113] On 9 February 2019,
Lewandowski scored in a 3–1 win over Schalke and in doing so became the first
player to score 100 competitive goals at the Allianz Arena. His goal was also
his 119th league goal for Bayern Munich which saw him draw level with Roland Wohlfarth as the club's
third-highest goalscorer of all-time.[114]
Lewandowski in 2019
He surpassed Wohlfarth
the following month after scoring a brace in a 5–1 win over Gladbach, with his
second goal also seeing him equal Claudio Pizarro's record of 195 league goals
for the most Bundesliga goals by a foreign player.[115][116] In his very next fixture, he
broke Pizarro's record by scoring twice in a 6–0 win over Wolfsburg.[117] On 6 April 2019, in the 100th
Bundesliga meeting between Bayern Munich and Dortmund, Lewandowski scored twice
in a 5–0 win, with his first goal taking him to 200 goals in the league.[118][119]
Lewandowski finished the
season as the Bundesliga's top goalscorer with 22 goals for the fourth time.[120] On 25 May 2019, he scored a
brace as Bayern won RB Leipzig 3–0
in the 2019 DFB-Pokal Final.
With his goals, he became the all-time top scorer in the German Cup finals with six, surpassing Gerd Müller on five.[121] Lewandowski finished the
season with 40 goals in 47 matches in all competitions, reaching the 40-goal
landmark for the fourth consecutive season, also winning his second domestic
double with Bayern.[122]
On 12 August 2019,
Lewandowski scored his first goal of the season when Bayern defeated Energie Cottbus 3–1
in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[123] On 16 August 2019,
Lewandowski scored two goals in the 2019–20 Bundesliga opener
against Hertha Berlin. With his goals, Lewandowski set a Bundesliga record for
scoring a goal in the season opener for the fifth year in a row.[124] On 24 August 2019,
Lewandowski scored a hat-trick against Schalke at the Veltins Arena as Bayern won 3–0.[125] On 29 August 2019,
Lewandowski extended his contract at Bayern until 2023.[126] On 18 September 2019,
Lewandowski scored his 200th goal for Bayern in a 3–0 win against Serbian
club Red Star Belgrade in
the Champions
League.[127] Later that month, after
scoring his tenth goal of the campaign during a 3–2 win over SC Paderborn 07,
he became the first player in Bundesliga history to achieve double figures for
goals scored after the first six match rounds.[128] Lewandowski then became the
first player in Bundesliga history to score in each of the opening nine, ten
and eleven matches of a season, surpassing the record of eight set by Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang.[129][130][131] On 26 November 2019,
Lewandowski scored 4 goals in under 15 minutes as Bayern defeated Red Star
Belgrade 6–0 in their reverse fixture and clinched first place in their Champions
League group, setting a new record for fastest time to score four
goals in a Champions League match. He also became only the second player ever
to score four goals in multiple Champions League matches.[132]
On 25 February 2020,
Lewandowski equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's record of nine away goals
in a season in Europe's top club competition. He did so by scoring a goal in a
3–0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.[133] On 10 August 2020,
Lewandowski scored a brace and provided two assists in a 4–1 win over Chelsea.[134] On 14 August, he scored one
goal in Bayern's
8–2 trashing of Barcelona in the quarter-finals; hence, he had scored
14 goals across eight consecutive Champions League matches.[135] Lewandowski scored a goal in
his ninth consecutive Champions League match in Bayern's semifinal win against Lyon.[136] His European scoring streak
ended when he failed to score a goal in Bayern's Champions
League final match against Paris
Saint-Germain on 23 August; nevertheless, Bayern defeated PSG
1–0, giving Lewandowski his first career Champions League title.[137]
International career
Lewandowski made three
appearances for Poland's
U21 team, in friendly matches against England, Belarus and Finland.
His debut for the senior
national team came on 10 September 2008, three weeks after his 20th birthday,
against San
Marino where he came on as a substitute and scored a goal in a
2–0 away win in 2010 FIFA
World Cup qualification.[138][139] Only Włodzimierz Lubański scored
a goal on his debut for the national team at a younger age than Lewandowski,
having been 16 at the time. Lewandowski scored another qualifying goal against
the same team on 1 April 2009, in a 10–0 victory.[140]
.jpg)
Lewandowski playing
for Poland against Hungary in
November 2011
Playing in Warsaw in the
opening match of the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament
against Greece,
Lewandowski scored the first goal of the competition after an assist from then
Dortmund teammate Jakub Błaszczykowski and
was named Man of the Match.[141] He played in all three games
for Poland in the tournament, as the co-hosts crashed out of the group stage
with two points earned.[142][143]
Lewandowski scored two
penalties in the 5–0 win against San Marino on 26 March 2013 during the 2014
World Cup qualifying campaign, his first match as captain.[144] Later on in the campaign, on
6 September, he scored the equaliser against Montenegro in
a 1–1 home draw.[145] Poland did not qualify for
the 2014 World Cup in
Brazil.
Lewandowski playing for
Poland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
On 7 September 2014, in
Poland's first UEFA Euro 2016
qualifier, away against Gibraltar,
Lewandowski scored his first international hat-trick, netting four goals in a
7–0 win.[146] On 13 June 2015, he scored
another hat-trick in Poland's 4–0 defeat of Georgia,
with the three goals scored within the space of four minutes.[147] On 8 October, he scored twice
in a 2–2 draw away to Scotland,
opening and equalising with the last kick of the game to eliminate the hosts.[148] Three days later he headed
the winner in a 2–1 victory against the Republic
of Ireland, qualifying Poland for the tournament finals in France.[149] Lewandowski ended the
campaign with 13 goals, a joint European
Championships qualifying record with David Healy's
tally for Northern
Ireland in UEFA Euro 2008
qualifying.[150]
At UEFA Euro 2016 in France, Lewandowski did
not have a shot on target until the last-16 match against Switzerland in Saint-Étienne.[151] Following the 1–1 draw, he
scored his team's first attempt in the penalty
shootout victory that sent them to the quarter-finals for the
first time.[152] In the 100th second of the
quarter-final against Portugal at
the Stade Vélodrome,
he finished Kamil Grosicki's
cross to open another 1–1 draw, and again scored in the shootout although the
Poles lost.[153] At the time of Poland's exit,
Lewandowski had suffered more fouls than any other player in the tournament.[153]
On 5 October 2017,
Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Armenia to
take his tally to 50 goals for Poland, surpassing the previous record of 48
goals set by Włodzimierz Lubański to
become the all-time top scorer for Poland.[154][155] On 8 October 2017,
Lewandowski scored a goal in a 4–2 win over to Montenegro taking his tally to
51 goals for Poland.[156] He finished the 2018 FIFA
World Cup qualification campaign with 16 total goals, a record
for a European World Cup qualifier.[156]
Lewandowski was called up
to the 23-man Polish squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in
Russia.[157] Lewandowski played every
minute in all three matches, against Senegal, Colombia and Japan.
Lewandowski did not score a goal as Poland did not qualify for the knockout
phase.[158]
Style of play
Lewandowski is widely
regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.[159][160][161][162][163] An accurate and efficient
finisher with his head and both feet, Lewandowski is a prolific goalscorer. A
well-rounded forward,
he is said to possess almost all the necessary qualities of a traditional
number nine: height, strength, balance, pace, intelligent movement and
proficiency with both feet.[164] Although he primarily
operates as a goal-poacher in the penalty area, due to his positional sense,
ability to shoot first time, and strength in the air, his excellent technical skills,
quick feet, proficient dribbling, vision, and physique also enable him to hold
up the ball with his back to goal and either bring his teammates into play, or
win fouls for his team in useful positions; despite often functioning as a
lone-centre
forward or as an out-and-out striker. He has also stood out for
his work-rate and defensive contribution off the ball, and is capable of
dropping into deeper roles on the pitch, in order to create space for teammates
with his movement, or surprise defenders by making late and sudden attacking
runs into the area. Lewandowski is an accurate penalty taker and has repeatedly
shown coolness and composure on the spot. In addition to his playing ability,
Lewandowski has also been praised for his outstanding work-ethic, fitness,
mentality, and discipline, both on the pitch and in training, by pundits,
players and managers.[165][166][167]
Outside football
Personal
life
Lewandowski's father gave
him the name Robert to make it easier for him when moving abroad as a
professional footballer.[168] Lewandowski's father,
Krzysztof (died in 2005),[169] was a Polish judo champion,
and also played football for Hutnik Warsaw in the second division.[170] His mother, Iwona, is a
former volleyball player
for AZS Warszawa and
later vice-president of Partyzant Leszno.[170] His sister, Milena, also
plays volleyball and has represented the U21 national team.[170] He shares a surname with Gina
Lewandowski, an American defender for Bayern's women's team from 2012–19, but
is not known to be related to her.[171]
His wife, Anna Lewandowska, won the bronze medal at the
2009 Karate World Cup.[170] They married on 22 June 2013
in the Church of the Annunciation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in Serock.[172] They have two daughters:
Klara (born 4 May 2017)[173] and Laura (born 6 May 2020).[174]
Lewandowski is a
practising Catholic.[175] He met Pope Francis in October 2014, when Bayern
Munich visited Vatican City following
a 7–1 win over A.S. Roma in
the UEFA
Champions League.[176]
In October 2017, the day
after scoring to help Poland qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Lewandowski
finished Bachelor of
Physical Education (BPhEd) with coaching and management at the
Academy of Sport Education in Warsaw, concluding a decade of studies.[177][178][179]
In addition to his
native Polish,
Lewandowski also speaks English and German.[180][181]
Philanthropy
and business
Lewandowski and his wife,
Anna, have supported, donated & raised money for various charitable
organisations and children throughout their career; including Children's
Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw, for which they've raised
more than 150 thousand PLN during Anna's birthday party, on 25
August 2018.[182] Lewandowski also donated 100
thousand PLN for the treatment of Cyprian Gaweł, a three-year-old boy
from Hel;[183] and helps raising funds for
the Great
Orchestra of Christmas Charity each year, donating his personal
items or private meetings that are sold at online auctions.[184][185][186]
In March 2014, he was
named a UNICEF
Goodwill Ambassador.[187]
In March 2020,
Lewandowski and his wife, Anna, donated €1 million during the 2019-20
coronavirus pandemic.[188]
Beside philanthropy,
Lewandowski also invests primarily in startups, e-commerce and websites, mainly through
Protos Venture Capital, a company of which he is a shareholder.[189] He also owns
"Stor9_", an agency specialising in marketing
communications.[190]
Sponsorship
and media appearances
In 2013, Lewandowski
signed a sponsorship deal with Nike. Lewandowski plays in Nike Hypervenom boots.[191]
Lewandowski featured on
the cover of the Polish edition of EA Sports' FIFA 15 video game, alongside Lionel Messi.[192] Lewandowski's
"X" goal celebration –
arms crossed and index fingers pointing up – appears in FIFA 18.[193]
Career statistics
Honours
Lewandowski in May 2011
celebrating Dortmund winning the Bundesliga
Lech Poznań[198]
·
Polish SuperCup: 2009
Borussia Dortmund[198]
·
Bundesliga: 2010–11, 2011–12
·
DFL-Supercup: 2013
·
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2012–13
Bayern Munich
·
Bundesliga: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
·
DFB-Pokal: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
·
DFL-Supercup: 2016, 2017, 2018
·
UEFA Champions League: 2019–20[199]
Individual
·
FIFA Ballon d'Or: 4th place (2015)
·
IFFHS World's Top International Goal Scorer of the Year:
2015[200]
·
Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2016–17,[201] 2019–20[202]
·
German
Players' Union (VDV): Player of the Season in the Bundesliga 2013,
2017, 2018, 2020 [203][204]
·
Polish
Footballer of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017,
2019
·
Polish
Sportspersonality of the Year: 2015[205]
·
Ekstraklasa Best Player: 2009
·
Bundesliga
top scorer: 2013–14 (20
goals), 2015–16 (30
goals), 2017–18 (29
goals),[206] 2018–19 (22
goals), 2019–20 (34
goals)
·
DFB-Pokal top scorer: 2011–12 (7
goals), 2016–17 (5
goals), 2017–18 (6
goals), 2018–19 (7
goals), 2019–20 (6
goals)
·
Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2009–10 (18
goals)
·
FIFA World Cup
qualification top scorer: 2018 FIFA
World Cup qualification (16 goals)[207]
·
UEFA
Euro qualifying top scorer: 2016 (13
goals)
·
UEFA Champions League top
scorer: 2019–20 (15
goals)[208]
·
UEFA Champions League top
assist provider: 2019–20 (6
Assists)[209]
·
UEFA Champions League Squad
of the Season: 2015–16, 2016–17[210][211]
·
UEFA Team of the Year: 2019[212]
·
Bundesliga Team of the Year: 2012–13,
2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19[213][214][215][216][217][218][219]
·
FIFA FIFPro World11 2nd
team: 2015, 2017[220][221]
·
FIFA FIFPro World11 3rd team: 2013, 2016[222][223]
·
FIFA FIFPro World11 4th team: 2014[224]
·
FIFA FIFPro World11 5th team: 2018[225]
·
FIFA FIFPro World11 nominee: 2019 (13th
forward)[226]
·
Best player of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying[227]
·
Bundesliga Player of the Month: August 2019[228]
·
Polish
Revelation of the Year: 2008
·
I liga top scorer: 2007–08 (21
goals)
·
II liga top scorer: 2006–07 (15 goals)
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