In times of Messi and Ronaldo, Lewandowski is undervalued: Ruud Gullit

Laureus World Sports Academy, Gullit took questions from TOI and other select journalists on the best footballers on the planet. Excerpts… Robert Lewandowski has been nominated again for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. Has he now overtaken Lionel Messi as the number one footballer?I think he has been very unlucky that he is playing in an era with (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Messi.

He has been undervalued, a little bit. They didn’t notice him that much and that’s a pity because he has done a great job with Bayern (Munich), scoring so many goals. He has also been unlucky because Poland have not managed to win a major prize as a country.

That would have given him more stature. That is the reason why he didn’t win the Ballon d'Or. He won the Best FIFA Men's Player award, which was some sort of recognition.

Did Lewandowski deserve to win the Ballon d'Or? In Germany, everyone went crazy that he didn’t win. Some even felt he was cheated…I understand the frustration. In my mind, I thought he won, so that came as a surprise.

He’s not cheated. It’s just the opinion of a lot of journalists, footballers and coaches. Surely, it was a surprise.

I am happy he won the FIFA award. I personally feel he’ rather win the Ballon d’or. The race to win the Ballon d’or has been dominated by Ronaldo and Messi for a long time now.

Is that rivalry good for the game, or is there a need for a different crop to emerge?We should be very happy that these two are playing in this era. They are motivated by each other to do better. Are we going to see players who will be even better? It’s hard.

I don’t know if that will happen. These two are freaks of nature. Different players, but fantastic.