The 2021 FIFA Annual Best Awards Ceremony announces a number of awards:
World Footballer of the Year (Male Footballer of the Year): Lewandowski
Miss World Soccer (Female Footballer of the Year): Putlias
Best Men's Football Coach: Tuchel
Best Women's Football Coach: Hayes
Best Men's Goalkeeper: Edward Mendy
Best Women's Goalkeeper: Endler
Puskas Prize: La Merra
Men's Special Award: Ronaldo
Women's Special Award: Christina Sinclair
Fair Play Award: Danish national team
Best Fan Award: Danish and Finnish fans
Men's Best Team: Donnaruma/Ruben Díaz, Bonucci, Arabba/De Bruyne, Jorginho, Kantai/Messi, Holland, Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo
Women's Best Team: Ender/Bronzer, Eriksson, Renal, Bright/Barnini, Bonansea, Lloyd/Marta, Midma, Alex Morgan
As a media judge in China for FIFA's Annual Awards, Football Weekly's Editor-in-Chief Enron voted for Midma, Putlias and Eriksson in turn for the Miss World Football Awards; best women's football coach for Prestaman, Cortez and Yehadsson; and best women's goalkeeper for Lindal, Rabe and Ender.
Ma Dexing, deputy editor-in-chief of SportsWeek, selected Messi, Lewandowski and Jorginho in turn for the World Footballer of the Year Awards; Tuchel, Mancini and Conte for the best men's football coach; and Donnarumma, Alisson and Casper Schmeichel for the best men's goalkeeper.
Lewandowski won the world footballer of the year, let us return to the "starting point of God", look back at how he crossed the barrier as a teenager, changed the nickname from "Bobek" to "Lewangoalski"...
In order to find her husband's shortcomings, Anna spent a long time thinking about it, because Lewandowski's strengths were easier to discover, like so many goals he has scored over the past many years.
"I would say that he was very demanding, both for himself and for others. He always said: 'Why don't you try to do it?' You should do it! ”
Levine is like this, his eyes are always fixed on the target, constantly bringing himself closer to perfection. The Polish striker often tells those he works with that he needs to be surrounded by people who are quick to act and understand quickly, just like him. Bayern strikers are never satisfied on the football pitch, and when one goal is achieved, they go after the next. His sister Milena told us: "Robert is very talented and tried a lot of sports as a child. For example, golf, he is very involved in the sport, is the best in the circle of friends. ”
Chase your dreams
Lewan's former alumnus Marek, one of Bayern's best friends, recalls an interesting story that has spread widely in Munich. "We played racing games together on the PlayStation, and everyone tried to break records at the hardest 'expert level', but one by one they failed... One day, I got a phone call and I heard him yelling, 'I did it!' I did it! It turned out that he had found some relevant videos on the Internet, paying attention to every detail that could help him improve by a thousandth of a second. Yes, he can always find ways to improve himself. ”
This summer, Levan opened a restaurant called "No. 9" in Warsaw's Wola neighborhood. It took him three years of research and planning to finalize the decoration plan and various details of the restaurant, such as the pancakes in the shape of the digital "9", various sports-related decorations... Even the bathrooms were equipped with televisions so as not to miss key scenes of the game.
Levan's attention to detail was born in Leszno in the early 1990s, a small town on the western outskirts of Warsaw, dozens of kilometers from Poznan, with a permanent population of just over 4,000. Levan's parents moved here from the center of Warsaw that year and worked as a physical education teacher at the local primary school.
From Sródmiescie to Leszno, depending on traffic conditions, it can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours. We drove down Route 580, with Campinos National Park just off the road. Passing zaborovik, through the mist, the destination appeared in front of the eyes.
On the walls of the school where Levan attended, there are two portraits of the Polish captain: one when he was young and the other when he became an adult. Next to the portrait there is another sentence: "Chase your dreams!" "After crossing the football pitch, we came to the main school building, with a cross above the entrance and many posters of Levan — "Robert, our hero!" ”
Levan's mother, Ivona, has reached retirement age, but she is still teaching. Dressed in a yellow tracksuit with a whistle around her neck, she was touring a girls' handball match. Between classes, the smiling Yvonne showed us photos of the family's weekend not long ago, when Levan returned to Poland to participate in the World Preliminary Tournaments against Andorra and Hungary, and the family was reunited. 4-year-old Clara is playing the piano, 1-year-old Laura is wearing cute little pigtails, two little girls are walking in the park or sitting on bicycles or snuggling in daddy's arms...
"Eat more bacon!"
Two years ago, Levan had returned to Leszno to visit his teacher. He gave a speech and shed tears of excitement, touching thousands of listeners. In the office (most prominently) of the principal and history teacher Robert Rašczka, a portrait of the captain of the Polish national team hangs, along with math teacher Violetta Vavciniac, who opens the box of memories.
More than 20 years ago, children attended this school for 8 years (7 to 15 years old). Does he play football a lot during recess? The answer is firm: "Always kicking!" ”
Levan loved taking geography classes as a child, but every time he went to a masquerade, he dressed himself up as a player. Teachers at the time recalled: "He was always running around, but he was never late. He eats and drinks quickly, just to have more time to play football. ”
Ivona smiled and said, "Robert is always full of energy. Even as he sat, his legs kept moving. As for his studies, he has always been very serious and has never caused trouble. ”
Milena also remembers that her brother was very talented in learning. "He only needs to read the contents of the book once to remember it all."
In Leszno, people sketch the image of Levan as a child: smart, ambitious, easy to communicate, full of energy. In 1997, at the age of 8, Levan entered the MKS club in Warsaw for youth training, often because of the excessive amount of training, which made the teacher dissatisfied. At that time, Levan was nicknamed "Bobek" (a cartoon character in Poland in the 1980s) because of his small stature. Vafzinak recalls: "Because he often trained until 8 p.m. to come home, Robert sometimes slept in class the next morning. At one point, he blushed with shame because he hadn't done his math homework. But he quickly made amends and never made that mistake again. ”
Although there was no advantage in stature, little Levan soon revealed the motor genes inherited from his parents. "Through sports, we have passed on to him various values: a sense of discipline, fair play, respect for others, the desire to improve ourselves... And to forge individuality in victories and defeats. There is also healthy living, away from alcohol. Yvonne said with a smile.
Yvonne played high-level handball in her youth, and Levan's sister Milena was also a handball player, despite her relatively poor stature. Levan's father, Kristov, was a former national judo champion who played in the Polish Second Division, and robert was given the name robert. This very international name may be a harbinger of Levan's future career.
As a child, Levan often let his parents see the fragments of vases splashing all over the ground as soon as he entered the house, and he always kicked the ball around when he played with his beloved dog, Kokusha. At the age of 5, Levan began to play football with children who were two or three years older than himself. His idols at the time were Italian star Roberto Baggio, then Del Piero, then Thierry Henry.
The Vistula River runs through Warsaw and winds its way to Gdansk, eventually joining the Baltic Sea. The Warsaw MKS club is on the right bank of the river and the young players are struggling on the pitch. As a sworn enemy of Polonia, MKS did not have an 8-year-old echelon, so Levan joined the U10 echelon directly, playing with his best friend, Tomasz Zaviswak, who now maintains the club's social media accounts. With at least one head shorter than the kids on the same team, Levan's first coach, Kristov Sikorsky, always joked, "Bobek, eat more bacon!" ”
Growth and blows
Under the roof of a brand-new artificial turf, we were received by MKS Club's sporting director, Marek Krivytsky. Between the ages of 13 and 15, Levan trained under him and his header and running ability were greatly improved.
"He's a natural shooter with a very strong personality. He was obedient because he was eager to learn more. He has great technique, but more importantly, a grasp of timing. He knew exactly where the ball would go, and it still is, and every time I watch him play, I see the same 'Bobek' of the year, the same running position and the way he scored! ”
At the end of each training session that year, Levan had to practice set-pieces; even on his birthday, the Polish striker was inseparable. During Leshno's first eucharist, the father asked the priest to advance the ceremony by half an hour and leave a few minutes early, which the priest accepted. When he finished drawing the cross, Levan and his father sprinted all the way to the car outside and arrived at the race venue on time. This intense and busy life often brings some trouble, such as potatoes that the mother forgot on the stove and eventually burned.
Levan's car was also very busy, going back and forth between Warsaw and Leszno almost every day, and going to other places on weekends for some big and small races. "My son is 6 years old and just started playing football and I always have to wait for him in the car for an hour and a half," Milena said. My God! I now finally understand how my parents felt! ”
Levine is grateful for the dedication and sacrifice of his family for him, and he always says that if it were not for the strong support of his parents, his football dream might have ended before it began. The effort and sacrifice are ultimately rewarded. As a teenager, Levan began to compete in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, and once in Sweden, he made a small fortune by playing a teddy bear and then bought a gift for everyone in the family. During the holidays, the Levan family would go to his grandfather's house on the shores of Lake Wilkee, where he would also make fond memories of Bayern.
By the middle school years, the Anders Sports Center near the street where the MKS club was located had become a paradise for Levan to play with his friends. Marek, Malchin and Camille were buddies he knew when he played basketball.
In 2005, at the age of 16, Levan joined the satellite club of the Warsaw Legion, Warsaw Delta (fourth level), but his first blow in his life also came. The unfortunate death of his father Kristov left the little one devastated. Subsequently, the Delta first team was disbanded, and Levan injured his knee while playing with the Warsaw Legion Reserve (in the third division). In 2006, Warsaw team executives informed Levan that he would not sign him because he was too thin in the eyes of some members of the coaching staff.
Levan, who suffered the first blow in his football career, fell into his mother's arms and cried bitterly. "He was completely overwhelmed and didn't even want to eat. After his father's death, he bore too much on his shoulders. ”
Refuse to go downhill
The frustration didn't last long, and Levan, who regained confidence and motivation, spent a lot of time in the gym. Miliana recalls: "He was like a wounded beast, a lion in an iron cage. He knew very well that if he gave up on it, he would lose everything. ”
Persuaded by his mother, Levan signed with Pruszkov Lantern Club, a weak brigade in the southwestern suburbs of Warsaw, to compete in the third division. When he came back from training for the first week, Levan had a bruise on his leg, and later he joked: "My ankles are like cement." ”
After recovering from injury, Levan began scoring non-stop goals. His friend Marek often goes to away games with him, spends two or three euros to buy a ticket, eats sausages, and watches future "World One Striker" performances. Every time Levan was named the best player of the game (that's a regular thing), he was able to win a new phone, which was relatively rare at the time.
"In school, Robert wasn't the best at football, but he worked very hard. Once he's focused on something, nothing can distract him. With the support of family and friends, Levan scored a big game at Prushkov, winning the top scorer in the third and second divisions and an invitation from top-flight side Lech Poznan. After Poznan became the top league Golden Boot, Levan landed in the Bundesliga, and the story behind it, everyone knows...
A few years ago, Levan was practicing penalties and free kicks at the Bayern training base, and his three good brothers had to wait patiently in Munich's restaurant. "We asked him, 'Why are you practicing this?' Bayern already have Robben and Müller, and it's not your turn to take set pieces. His answer was, 'One day it will be my turn!' ’”
Levan's wife, Anna, is a fitness guru majoring in nutrition, and she has been working hard to explore to help her husband improve his performance. The brightness of the room lighting, the quality of the mattress, the sleeping posture... These details are seen as key to improving the quality of sleep. Scientific dietary arrangements also help with digestion and absorption.
Levan's good friend and lawyer Camille said: "He takes great care of his body! I think he can play until he's 40, like a lot of goalkeepers. Levan, 33, doesn't seem to be going downhill, but keeps making himself stronger.
German football star Gad müller's seemingly unattainable records have been broken by Levan! Throughout 2021, Levan made a total of 59 appearances for clubs and national teams, scoring a staggering 69 goals! And at the end of each game, Levan wrestles with the good chances that don't translate into goals.
As a teenager, "Bobek" wanted to prove to the world that a player from Poland can achieve great things. Today, Levan's success has made him an ambassador for his homeland. In a skyscraper in Warsaw, the huge advertisement he endorsed for Huawei's mobile phone was very eye-catching. Even with sunglasses and a hat on, he wouldn't want to dodge the paparazzi on the streets of Warsaw, and fans would follow him all the way to the restaurant called "No. 9".
This article is written by Emmanuel Bojan
Compilation: To wave
This article was originally published in the 831st issue of Football Weekly
Released: 30.12.2021
Images are from the web