Luka Modric the Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modrić has been crowned the world’s best player at Fifa’s The Best awards.
The 33-year-old was the favourite going into Monday’s ceremony in London, ahead of former team mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
The Blancos maestro claimed the award at a star-studded ceremony this evening after what’s been a superb year for the ex-Tottenham man.
Luka Modric was named Best Fifa Men’s Footballer of the Year at a ceremony in London, beating Mohamed Salah and an absentee Cristiano Ronaldo to the top prize.
Ronaldo had won the award for the last two years, but Modric’s exceptional 2017/18 season was deemed to have surpassed the Portuguese’s dominance.
The 33-year-old Croatian won his third Champions League trophy with Real Madrid in May and led his national side to their first World Cup final in Russia, where he was awarded the Golden Ball for his outstanding individual performance.
Afterwards Modric dedicated the award to his Croatian and Madrid teammates.
“It’s a great honour and beautiful feeling to stand here with this trophy,” he said.
“This trophy is not just mine. It is for my Real Madrid team-mates, the Croatia national team and all my coaches. This is also for my family, without who I would not be the player I am.”
Voted for by national team coaches and captains, select members of the media and an online vote, the win shows a shift from Lionel Messi and Ronaldo sharing the spoils for the past decade of Fifa individual awards.
Messi’s omission from the category altogether garnered particular attention ahead of this, the third edition of The Best awards, which were created after Fifa’s six-year partnership with the Ballon d’Or ended in 2015.
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