| Full name | Robert Lewandowski |
| Date of birth | 21 August 1988, age 33 |
| Place of birth | Warsaw, Poland |
| Height | 1.85m (6 ft 1in) |
| Position(s) | Striker |
| Club information | |
| Current team | Bayern Munich |
| Number | 9 |
| Careers for youth | |
| 1996-1997 | Partyzant Leszno |
| 1997-2004 | MKS Varsovia Warsaw |
Robert Lewandowski, Polish pronunciation: (listen), was born 21 August 1988. He is a professional footballer from Poland. He plays as a striker at Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. He is also the captain of the Polish national team. Lewandowski’s positioning, technique, and finishing are all renowned. He is also one of the most popular Bundesliga players. Over 600 career goals have been scored for both club and country.
After scoring the highest goals in the third and second tiers with Znicz Pruszkow’s Polish football team, Lewandowski was promoted to Lech Poznan. This helped the team win the 2009-10 Ekstraklasa. He moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2010, where he won two consecutive Bundesliga titles as well as the league’s top goal scorer award. He also played for Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final. Lewandowski signed a free transfer to Dortmund to join their domestic rivals Bayern Munich before the start of the 2014-15 campaign. He has won the Bundesliga title in Munich each of his seven previous seasons. Bayern’s UEFA Champions League win was made possible by Lewandowski as part of a treble. Johan Cruyff is the other player to have achieved the European treble. He was also the highest goal scorer in all three competitions and the only top scorer.
Early career
“When I was six years old, Roberto Baggio played at the 1994 World Cup. Alessandro Del Piero was my favorite player when I was between 10-14 years old. Thierry Henry was then my idol. He was incredible – not just because he scored goals, but for what he did for his team.
–Lewandowski discusses his childhood role models
Lewandowski was born and raised in Warsaw West County. As an unregistered football player, he made his first steps into the game at Partyzant Leszno. He joined MKS Varsovia Warsaw in 1997. As a teenager, he had played there for seven years. He moved to Delta Warsaw in the 4th tier, where he scored four goals during the season.
Lewandowski, who scored 15 goals in the third Polish division, was the top goalscorer for 2006-07. This helped Znicz Pruszkow to win promotion. He was also the highest scorer in the Polish second-highest division, scoring 21 goals.
Style of play
Lewandowski is widely considered to be one the most skilled strikers in the entire world. He is also known for being one of the greatest centre-forwards ever. Lewandowski is an excellent goal scorer. He’s a skilled and accurate finisher who can use both his head and both his feet. He is a well-rounded forward and has all the qualities that a traditional number nine needs: strength, balance, speed, intelligence, movement, height, and proficiency with both his feet. He is primarily a goal-poacher in penalty area. His positional sense, ability and strength to shoot first-time, strength in air and power in the air and powerful shot with either one of his feet make him a good goal-poacher. However, because of his technical skills, excellent vision, speed, dribbling, and physique, he can hold the ball with his back towards goal and bring his teammates into play or win fouls for them in useful positions. He is also known for his hard work and defense contribution. He can drop into deeper positions on the pitch to make space for teammates or surprise defenders with sudden attacks into the area. Lewandowski has a great ability to score from long distances and is a good penalty taker. Apart from his ability to play, Lewandowski is also praised by pundits and players for his exceptional work ethic, fitness, mentality and discipline on and off the pitch.
