It was the night that the entire footballing fraternity was waiting for, a night that could possibly end the duopoly of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of winning the best player of the year award for last 10 seasons.
And that is exactly what transpired at the Royal Festival Hall in London, as Luka Modric, the magician of Real Madrid and the hero of Croatia broke the Messi-Ronaldo domination to win the FIFA World Player of the year award.
Modric had the perfect possible year(except probably missing out on the FIFA World Cup). He won the Champions League with Real Madrid, took his country to the final of the FIFA World Cup, winning the Golden Ball at the World Cup, winning the UEFA Player of the year award and then finally capping it off with the FIFA World Player of the year award.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah were the other two players in contention for th award, and while Salah did not quite have the credentials to beat Modric, Ronaldo certainly did.
However, it seems like the World Cup showing helped tilt the award into Modric’s favour, who had an amazing month in Russia, digging deep and helping his team reach the final of the FIFA 2018 World Cup.
This is how Twitter reacted:
Luka Modric named Fifa’s player of the year ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah: https://t.co/4Z1nGXqIa7 pic.twitter.com/GUK9KvJBJm
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) September 24, 2018
Modric: “This award is not just mine. This is for all my RM teammates, my Croatia teammates, all my coaches & my family without them I wouldn’t be who I am . Thanks to all my fans all over the word for the love they’re showing me.” pic.twitter.com/rn5Qd3aWeF
— M•A•J¹³ (@Ultra_Suristic) September 24, 2018
Ronaldo fans turning on Modric. I’m making popcorn, who wants? 😂
— NAZ (@FCNazalona) September 24, 2018
Marcelo recording these moments for Luka Modric is surely the highlight of the day. Marcelo is the best friend we all wish to have in our life. pic.twitter.com/cvsSM51ykn
— Mostafa (@MostafaTweets) September 24, 2018
Congratulations to Luka Modric – the best player in the world. #FIFAFootballAwards
— FootballTransferNews (@FTransferNews) September 24, 2018
This has really been Luka Modric’s year.
— resident crop top (@TheMaxyNe) September 24, 2018
This guy was robbed in 2010 if modric won it today pic.twitter.com/zm4ZHXmVqu
— aaaarjan (@bonyandclyne_21) September 24, 2018
Fifa award was the most awkward television I’ve seen In a while. Complete
Lack of direction. Side note; Luka modric, Well deserved; consistent quality over the past few years.— Atef Sayed (@1atefsayed) September 24, 2018
The World Cup proved to be the decider. Unfortunately for Cristiano, who seemed to be frontrunner before then, the best player at the World Cup was a teammate of his who had played a huge role in everything Real Madrid had won.
Luka Modric deserved that. Boss!
— Deji Faremi (@deejayfaremi) September 24, 2018
Luka Modric is now officially ahead of Xavi and Iniesta.
— The Papi (@tawah89) September 24, 2018
Modric ends the Messi/Ronaldo domincance to win Player of the year! Totally deserved! Salah did the Premier League proud in making the top 3 and who knows he could get one in the future. But Modric deserved it for me. Superb midfielder
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) September 24, 2018
Anyway, whatever else you/we think, for all the debates and whatnot, Luka Modric is a lovely player and it feels like quite a nice shift for his *type* of player to win it.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) September 24, 2018
Luka Modric was the flop of the season when he joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur, but today he is the best player in the world. The beginning may be rough for you too, keep your head up high, work hard, don’t give up, you will end up as a winner.
— AJALA (@UNCLE_AJALA) September 24, 2018
🏆 THE BEST
⚽ FIFA Men’s Player 2018
🇭🇷 @lukamodric10
👏 CONGRATULATIONS! 👏#TheBest | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/dOcFLDB68F— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 24, 2018
