Robert Lewandowski, Hansi Flick remaining calm over FIFA’s “World Best” awards

Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, and Hansi Flick are all up for awards at FIFA’s “World’s Best” ceremony, which will be held virtually later today. Lewandowski is up for best player of the year, Neuer is up for best keeper of the year, and Flick is up for best manager of the year.

Of the three, Lewandowski is the biggest shoo-in to take the honor for world’s best footballer of the year for his exploits with Bayern and Poland. Of course, Lewandowski is in the running with Juventus’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, but Lewandowski had the season of his life, leading the scoring charts in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League en route to the treble.

Speaking to reporters after Bayern’s 2-1 win over VfL Wolsburg on Wednesday, both Lewandowski and Flick said they were remaining calm over their nominations. It was Lewandowski’s brace that helped Bayern secure the three points over a well disciplined Wolfsburg. Having a strong performance less than 24 hours prior to FIFA’s World’s Best ceremony is indicative of how deserving he is to win men’s best footballer of the year. He scored Bundesliga goals number 250 and 251 against Oliver Glasner’s men, becoming only the third Bayern player to do so behind only Gerd Müller and Klaus Fischer.

He’s personally not losing any sleep over whether or not he’ll in (Bundesliga): “You have to ask FIFA,” the Polish ace said when he was asked who would win FIFA’s best footballer of the year award. He continued, “No, I’m very happy I can be there, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I hope it will be a good day.”

When a reporter told him many believe that he will win the award, he replied, “Thank you, that will be amazing. Something not only for me, but for my family, my friends, for a lot of people, I hope. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Flick, who’s in the running to win best manager of the year, kept it short and sweet when he was asked about the awards that Neuer and Lewandowski were up for. Of course, both players had immense performances against Wolfsburg; Lewandowksi scored his brace and Neuer had a pair of spectacular saves right at the death to save the three points for Bayern. “We all hope that both Manu and Lewy get the awards they deserve. They both more than deserve it,” Flick told reporters after the 2-1 win (Abendzeitung).