What’s clear from his responses was that the man who has won nine Bundesliga titles, the UEFA Champions League, and the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award, is not about to rest on his past successes.
“I want to focus on the next title”
"Now is not the right moment to think about [my achievements]” says Lewandowski. “Thinking too much about the successes makes you weak."
As with many serial winners, the man who has scored more than 500 career goals is looking only to the future. “I know that as long as I'm in football I want to be focused not on the past, but on the future, on the next games.”
The prestigious Ballon d’Or
And even at 33, an age when many would be easing towards the end of their career, Lewandowski shows no sign of slowing down. Since August 2018, he has scored more goals than any other top-level player on the planet, and is the bookie’s second favourite to win this year’s prestigious Ballon d’Or title, behind Lionel Messi.
For many football fans and experts, it was a cruel injustice that he didn’t win the 2020 Ballon d’Or, which was not awarded due to a ‘lack of a sufficiently level playing field’ caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In an incredible season and year, Lewandowski's goal scoring form (he netted a ridiculous 55 goals in 47 games in the 2019/20 season, before going on to better his strike rate with 48 goals in 40 matches the following term) propelled Bayern Munich to a historic sextuple-winning season (the side won the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup). The pole was the bookmaker’s clear favourite to win the award.
Given Lewandowski’s commitment to success, one suspects that even if he had won the award, he would be just as hungry to win it again this year.
"I'm the guy that, even if I won something, a few days later I have new dreams of winning something again.”
ALSO READ: Quick Takes with Lewandowski
Longevity
The last time Lewandowski failed to score at least 40 goals in a season was in the 2014-15 campaign, his first at Bayern Munich. In every season since his 27th birthday he has hit the quadruple decade benchmark.
This kind of staying power did not come by chance - Lewandowski told Pulse Sports that he has been working on factors to extend his playing days since his early career.
"When I was 20 years old, I started to change my life, so that I could be not just in the next few months or next year, but when I'm 29 and 33.
"That time I was doing things that would help me in the future."
Hungry for More
Lewandowski’s most recent two seasons have been his most prolific yet and, given his insatiable appetite for more and more successes, few would bet against him increasing his tally and adding many more team and individual titles, including the coveted Ballon d’Or, to his already sizable collection.
“Every achievement turns me on for more...I'm not the guy who wins something and says 'now I can be chill' - No, I'm the guy that is hungrier, and wants to work harder than before.”