Real Madrid and Croatia’s midfield stalwart Luka Modric has been named the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year 2018 at FIFA’s BEST football awards in London on Tuesday. Modric played a pivotal role in handing Real Madrid its third consecutive Champions League trophy and then was the key player behind Croatia’s dream run to the FIFA World Cup 2018 final where they were beaten by France.
“It’s a great honour and a beautiful feeling to stand here with this amazing trophy,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Real Madrid and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo finished second, while Liverpool and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah finished third behind Luka Modric.
Luka Modric acquired a total of 29.05 per cent of votes, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo who got 19.08 per cent and Mohamed Salah, who banked 11.23 per cent of votes.
“First of all, I would like to give congratulations to Mohamed and Cristiano for the great season that they’ve had and I’m sure in the future they will have another opportunity to fight for this trophy,” he added.
Modric thanked all the team-mates and staff of both his club Real Madrid and country Croatia.
“This trophy is not just mine, it’s for all my Real Madrid team-mates, for all my team-mates from the Croatia national team, for all the coaches that I have played for.
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“Without them, this would not be possible and thank you a lot to them. This trophy is also for my family, without whom I would not be the player and person that I am. They are my ‘the best’.”
Luka Modric’s victory breaks a long duopoly of 10 years by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The midfield maestro had earlier won the UEFA Players of the Year award. He was also named the best player of the FIFA World Cup 2018.
Brazil’s Marta won the women’s award for the sixth consecutive time, while France’s World Cup winning coach – Didier Deschamps – clinched the Coach of the Year award. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah won the Puskas Award (Best goal of the year) for his sensational goal against Everton.
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