EUROPEAN S360 SPOTLIGHT AWARDS
2021 SOCCER 360
AWARDS
‘LIONEL MESSI OR CRISTIANO RONALDO FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR? HOW ABOUT NEITHER?’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR – ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI, BAYERN MUNICH & POLAND Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? How about neither? It may be easy to copy the results of the Ballon D’or and simply pick Messi, but we think there are several other contenders. Liverpool’s Mo Salah is in the frame, Erling Haaland is no slouch either and worthy of a mention, as is Atletico Madrid shot stopper Jan Oblak. Instead, there’s a repeat of last year here – there was no Ballon d’Or in 2020 but Robert Lewandowski would have won it if there was, and got Soccer360’s Player of the Year as a consolation. Well, with a goal every 66 minutes for Bayern Munich, he’s got another one for 2021 – having somehow missed out on the Ballon d’Or again. TEAM OF THE YEAR ATALANTA Teamwork makes the dream work and plenty of dreams have come true this year in football:
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SOCCER360 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2022
ABOVE: Robert Lewandowski controversially missed out on the Ballon d’Or but is Soccer360’s Player of the Year LEFT: The European Super League was one of the biggest blunders of 2021 BOTTOM: Luiz Diaz
Chelsea winning their second Champions League, Inter taking the Serie A title away from Juventus and Palmeiras making it back-to-back Copa Libertadores are all special and notable. However, in a break from the obvious, our Team of the Year is a side that have come from seemingly nowhere to become a European powerhouse, reaching the latter stages of the Champions League, finishing runners-up in the Coppa Italia and finishing third for a third straight season in Serie A. Le Dea of Atalanta are a prime example of teamwork proving almost anything is possible. GOAL OF THE YEAR – LUIS DIAZ, COLOMBIA VS. BRAZIL Once again, 2021 has served up a treat in front of goal with any number of worthy nominations. However, one piece of acrobatic skill and power was mesmerizing in its execution. Colombia was taking on Brazil in a group game during the summer’s Copa
