Will Luka Modrić become the first Croatian to win the Ballon d'Or? Can he be the player to interrupt the decade-long domination of Messi and Ronaldo?
Luka Modrić is currently leading in the vote for the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball), which is known as the most prestigious prize in football awarded annually by France Football, reports Goal.hr, Index.hr, and Gol.hr on November 10, 2018.
How do we know?
As the voting for journalists around the world ended on Friday, French media and specifically ‘Radio France Internationale’ delivered exclusive information that after half of the votes have been counted, Croatia captain and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić is in the lead. Recall, Luka had a spectacular 2017/18 season with Real Madrid who won the Champions League for the third consecutive time, and with the Croatia national team, Luka not only became a World Cup finalist, but he was named the best player of the tournament.
Luka’s biggest competitors for the award are Raphael Varane and Kylian Mbappé who are currently holding the second and third place. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and other stars, such as Antoine Griezmanna, who did not hide his opinion about who should win the award (someone from the World Cup champion France squad), are not among the highest-rated candidates to win the impressive award.
The Ballon d’Or winner, selected by 200 sports journalists around the world, will be announced on December 3, 2018, in Paris. The criteria are both individual and team performances (titles and trophies), the player’s class (talent and fair play), and the player’s overall career. With a list of 30 players, each jury member chooses their top five and ranks them. The player’s thus collect points: 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Along with the Golden Ball, Luka Modrić will also complete for the most individual prizes won in 2018. Earlier this year - in the UEFA and FIFA selections - Modrić was named the best player in Europe by UEFA, and the best player in the world by FIFA. Remember, he was also named the best player of the World Cup in Russia.
Even more exciting, if Luka is awarded the Ballon d’Or, he will break the ten-year winning streak of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded since 1956, though from 2010 to 2015, it was associated with the FIFA award. The Ballon d’Or is assigned to achievements on the pitch but also behavior outside of it in the previous calendar year.
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