Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was named the men's player of the year on Thursday at Fifa's 'The Best' awards ceremony, overcoming competition from last year's winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lewandowski, who won the German league and cup double as well as the Champions League with Bayern, finished as top scorer in all three competitions and won the award for the first time.
The 32-year-old also led Poland to Euro 2020 qualification and was named the 2019/20 Uefa men's player of the year in October.
"To win such an award and share this title with [previous winners] Messi and Ronaldo, is unbelievable and means so much to me," Lewandowski said.
"I am very proud and happy. This is a great day for me, and also for my club and colleagues.
"This award also belongs to my colleagues, the coach and Bayern in general. It is an incredible feeling, a lot of emotions."
Manchester City full back Lucy Bronze won the women’s best player award, becoming the first female English player to take the prize.
"I don’t have the words right now to explain how I’m feeling," Bronze said.
"If there’s anything 2020 has taught us to appreciate every moment you’ve got, not look too far ahead and live in the here and now.
"I appreciate it more than ever. I’ll remember this moment forever, for the rest of my life."
A Champions League winner with Lyon, she has since joined City.
Elsewhere, in the men’s categories, Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp was named the best men's manager for the second successive year after guiding Liverpool to a first Premier League title in 30 years. Lewandowski's Bayern team mate Manuel Neuer was named 'The Best' men's goalkeeper.
Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min won the Puskas Award for goal of the year for his individual strike in a Premier League game against Burnley last December.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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