Robert Lewandowski is set to make history by becoming the first Poland captain to lead the nation to three successive UEFA European Championships, and for this, as well as his illustrious club career, he deserves to be given his roses.
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The act of handing an individual roses or flowers is universally recognised as an acknowledgement of love and/or praise. It is an expressive way of showing them affection, and given that Lewandowski is still playing at the highest level for both club and country, the towering Pole deserves some.
In the Eagles' most recent preparatory friendly for the upcoming continental showpiece against Turkey, the Warsaw native was substituted off during the 33rd minute due to an apparent knee injury. While there may have been concerns about the 35-year-old's readiness to play at the showpiece in Germany, Polish Football Federation spokesperson Emil Kopanski told AFP they "remain optimistic" their all-time top goalscorer will be ready for the EUROs.
If he indeed is fit to take to the field in Poland's opening match against the Netherlands, Lewandowski will have captained his nation at three of the four European Championships the White and Reds have successfully qualified for. That is on top of already being their all-time top goalscorer with 82 goals in 150 caps, and in the next edition of European football's biggest tournament, he will be looking to better their best tournament showing, which saw them eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2016 iteration.
Why Lewandowski deserves his roses?
For the glittering career he has enjoyed with his home nation, it's what he has accomplished at club level that will see him placed in the annals of the greatest players the beautiful game has ever seen. Having had a promising start to life as a professional footballer with Lech Poznan in his native Poland, his next move would be career-defining as Jurgen Klopp introduced the world to a budding marksman when he signed Lewandowski at Borussia Dortmund in 2010.
The striker would endear himself to Die Schwarzgelben faithful three games after making his Bundesliga debut, when he struck his first goal for Dortmund against bitter rivals FC Schalke, scoring with a towering header, which would become a trademark of his in the years to come, in a 3-1 victory.
He would enjoy four trophy-laden years at Signal Iduna Park, where he won two Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal, the DFB Supercup, as well as bagging his first Bundesliga Golden Boot (Kicker-Torjagerkanone) title in his final season at the club.
The Poland international would leave Der BVB under controversial circumstances as, after he refused to sign a contract extension with the club, he would sign a pre-contract with their rivals Bayern Munich in the middle of his final campaign with Die Borussen.
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The dark cloud that may have hovered over his head when he completed the move to the Allianz Arena did not stay for long as he would only continue his ascendance in emphatic fashion with Die Roten. His first campaign with Bayern was good, scoring 25 goals in all competitions, but from his second season in Bavaria, he would reach his zenith. During the 2015/16 campaign, Lewandowski won his second Kicker-Torjagerkanone and broke the Guinness World Records for his five goals in eight minutes and 59 seconds against Wolfsburg after coming on as a substitute.
There was seemingly no stopping Lewandowski after that. After not winning the Kicker-Torjagerkanone in the 2016/17 season, the clinical marksman would be its recipient for the next five seasons as he broke a plethora of goalscoring records along the way, the most impressive being the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign. He broke this Gerd Muller record in the 2020/21 season as he found the back of the net a remarkable 41 times in the league.
He probably should have won the Ballon d'Or that season, but instead Lionel Messi won his seventh Golden Ball. He probably would have won it in 2020, but the award ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 2019/20 campaign being when he won the treble with Bayern and also finishing as top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League.
After establishing himself as one of the greatest strikers of all time at Bayern, the Poland captain decided to call time on his career with the Bavarian giants, and pushed for a move to FC Barcelona before the start of the 2022/23 season. Lewandowski entered with a bang as he won the LALIGA Golden Boot in his debut campaign, on his way to helping the Blaugrana win their first league title in the post-Lionel Messi era.
What's next for Lewandowski?
In 2023/24, Lewandowski and Barca struggled to continue their seeming upward trajectory as they conceded the Spanish title to Real Madrid and were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain from the quarter-finals of the Champions League. This led to speculation about him possibly bidding farewell to the Catalan giants, with Saudi Pro League clubs believed to be massive fans of his, but it seems the prolific marksman still wants to stay and play in front of the Cules.
Check Out: 10 Highest-Valued African Stars In CAF WC QualifiersFor the time being, however, he will want to help his nation win their first major title at the EUROs, in the nation where he became an icon. Given that he is coming off a season where he scored 26 goals in all competitions, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Lewandowski immortalises himself even further with his nation.
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