December 11, 2020 - Another great recognition for Croatia's greatest footballer, as FIFA FIFPro names Luka Modric among the world's 55 best footballers for the 8th time. 

HNS announces that the Croatia national football team captain, Luka Modric, is on the list of 55 footballers who have been shortlisted for the best team in the selection of the International Association of Professional Footballers FIFPro and the International Football Federation FIFA.

Modric is on the shortlist of the best players for the eighth time and has the opportunity to be among the best eleven, an honor that FIFPro has chosen since 2005, for the sixth time in a row. Modric was selected in the top 11 in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. About 25,000 professional footballers from all over the world choose the best team of the season consisting of one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders, and three strikers.

The fifty-five shortlisted players include goalkeepers Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium) David de Gea (Manchester United, Spain), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan, Italy), Moraes Ederson (Manchester City, Brazil) ), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France), Keylor Navas (PSG, Costa Rica), Manuel Neuer (Bayern, Germany), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid, Slovenia) and Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Germany).

Defenders include David Alaba (Bayern, Austria), Jordi Alba (Barcelona, ​​Spain), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham, Belgium), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England), Dani Alves (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Jerome Boateng (Bayern, Germany), Alphonso Davies (Bayern, Canada), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, The Netherlands), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, Senegal), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus, The Netherlands), Marcelo (Real Madrid, Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, Scotland), Thiago Silva (Chelsea, Brazil) and Raphael Varane (Real Madrid, France).

Midfielders include Thiago Alcantara (Bayern / Liverpool, Spain), Dele Alli (Tottenham, England), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, ​​Spain), Casemiro (Real Madrid, Brazil), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern / Barcelona, ​​Brazil), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal), Leon Goretzka (Bayern, Germany), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool, England), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona, ​​The Netherlands), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern, Germany), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid, Croatia) and Thomas Müller (Bayern, Germany).

The srikers are Sergio Agüero (Manchester City, Argentina), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, Gabon), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Serge Gnabry (Bayern, Germany), Erling Haaland (Borussia D., Norway) , Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan, Sweden), Harry Kane (Tottenham, England), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, Poland), Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Neymar Junior (PSG, Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt) and Son Heungmin (Tottenham, South Korea).

The FIFA and FIFPro best eleven in the 2019/20 season will be announced on December 17, 2020. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 24, 2019 - This year's award ceremony of The Best, organized by the World Football Federation, was held in Milan. Croatia once again had a representative among the winners, as Luka Modric was included in the world’s best 11 footballers.

HNS and Gol.hr write that the captain of the Croatia national team is back in respectable company. Namely, Luka Modric has been re-elected as a member of the best team of the year!

Slobodan Kadic

The Real Madrid midfielder and the Croatia national team captain was selected among the best 11 in the competition of 50 footballers who entered the final vote.

Along with Messi, who was named the best footballer in the world, Modric was joined by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who was also named the world's best goalkeeper, Matthias de Ligt (Juventus), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) in the defense, midfielders Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) and Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) and strikers Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) and Kylian Mbappe (PSG).

Modric has been selected in the top 11 players each year since FIFA independently organized the award, and has been in the top 11 since the 2014/15 season in FIFPro's selection. Recall, Barcelona and Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic also made the prestigious selection of 50 nominees.

Slobodan Kadic

Lionel Messi won the title of the best footballer for the 2018/2019 season, succeeding Luka Modric who won the award the season before. Megan Rapinoe was named the best female player.

Jürgen Klopp was selected as the best coach in men's football, while Jill Ellis received the same recognition in women's football. The best male goalkeeper in the world was awarded to Alisson Becker, while the best female goalkeeper was awarded to Sari von Veenendaal.

The Ferenc Puskas Award for Best Value was given to Daniel Zsori, the fair play award went to Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United, and the fan award went to Silvia Grecco and her son Nickollas.

Slobodan Kadic

The best women's team selected for the first time included Sari van Veenendaal, Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Kelley O'Hara, Wendie Renard, Julie Ertz, Amandine Henry, Rose Lavelle, Marta, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

September 5, 2019 - Croatia national team captain Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are among the 55 candidates for the Men’s World 11 in 2019 by the International Association of Professional Footballers (FIFPro).

FIFPro, in collaboration with FIFA, has released a list of 55 footballers, the most from Barcelona (11), while the Champions League winner Liverpool boasts seven and Real Madrid nine. For the first time since FIFPro has announced the "ideal 11”, most players are from the English Premier League - as many as 21, reports HRT.

This is the seventh time Luka Modric has been included in this list (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). The Croatia captain has been selected in the ideal team four times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) .). This is the fourth time Ivan Rakitic has been nominated (2015, 2016, 2018).

The best 11, in a 4-3-3 formation with a goalie, will be selected by more than 23,000 professional football players.

For the first time since the FIFPro introduced the best 11, there is no Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on the list, and Cristiano Ronaldo has made all 15 lists.

Goalkeepers (5)

Alisson Becker (BRA) - Liverpool FC
David De Gea (ESP) - Manchester United
Ederson Moraes (BRA) - Manchester City
Jan Oblak (SVN) - Atletico Madrid
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER) - FC Barcelona

Defenders (20)

Jordi Alba (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Trent Alexander-Arnold (ENG) - Liverpool FC
Dani Alves (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain / Sao Paulo FC
Joao Cancelo (POR) - Juventus / Manchester City
Daniel Carvajal (ESP) - Real Madrid
Giorgio Chiellini (ITA) - Juventus
Matthijs de Ligt (NED) - Ajax / Juventus
Diego Godin (URU) - Atletico Madrid / Internazionale
Joshua Kimmich (GER) - Bayern Munich
Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN) - SSC Napoli
Aymeric Laporte (FRA) - Manchester City
Marcelo (BRA) - Real Madrid
Gerard Pique (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Sergio Ramos (ESP) - Real Madrid
Andrew Robertson (SCO) - Liverpool FC
Alex Sandro (BRA) - Juventus
Thiago Silva (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Virgil van Dijk (NED) - Liverpool FC
Raphael Varane (FRA) - Real Madrid
Kyle Walker (ENG) - Manchester City

Midfielders (15)

Sergio Busquets (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Casemiro (BRA) - Real Madrid
Kevin de Bruyne (BEL) - Manchester City
Frenkie de Jong (NED) - Ajax / FC Barcelona
Christian Eriksen (DEN) - Tottenham Hotspur
Eden Hazard (BEL) - Chelsea FC / Real Madrid
N'Golo Kante (FRA) - Chelsea FC
Toni Kroos (GER) - Real Madrid
Arthur Melo (BRA) - FC Barcelona
Luka Modric (CRO) - Real Madrid
Paul Pogba (FRA) - Manchester United
Ivan Rakitic (CRO) - FC Barcelona
Bernardo Silva (POR) - Manchester City
Dusan Tadic (SRB) - Ajax
Arturo Vidal (CHI) - FC Barcelona

Forwards (15)

Sergio Aguero (ARG) - Manchester City
Karim Benzema (FRA) - Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) - Juventus
Roberto Firmino (BRA) - Liverpool FC
Antoine Griezmann (FRA) - Atletico Madrid / FC Barcelona
Son Heungmin (KOR) - Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Kane (ENG) - Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski (POL) - Bayern Munich
Sadio Mane (SEN) - Liverpool FC
Kylian Mbappe (FRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi (ARG) - FC Barcelona
Neymar (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Mohamed Salah (EGY) - Liverpool FC
Raheem Sterling (ENG) - Manchester City
Luis Suarez (URU) - FC Barcelona

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 11, 2019 - Croatia national team representative and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitić has been named as a player who has participated in an excessive number of matches, which could affect his health, the International Federation of Professional Footballers warned.

Namely, FIFPro, a worldwide union of football players based in the Netherlands, has published a report titled ‘At The Limit’, which warns that clubs are exhausting their players, says HRT.

Some of them have played nearly 80 games in a season, racking up over 100,000 kilometers traveling with their clubs and national teams. The union surveyed 500 elite football players, and cited the 31-year-old Barcelona and Croatia midfielder as a prime example of someone who is ‘at the limit’.

Since his arrival in Barcelona in 2014, Rakitić has been a standard member of the star-studded line-up and has also been a star for the Croatia national team. Last season, Rakitić played 68 games between May 25, 2018, and June 13, 2019. Of these, 14 were with the national team with which he traveled 30,000 kilometers.

FIFPro warns that Rakitic has played 72 percent of his matches without respecting the five-day break between them. A five-day break between games is a necessary period to avoid health problems in the short and long term.

Rakitić, along with midfielder Sergio Busquets, was last year's player with the most appearances for Spanish champion Barcelona after returning from the World Cup where he made it to the final with Croatia. Asked about his number of games in November after a match between Rayo Vallecano and Barcelona in Madrid, he laughed and said:

“You have to have strength.”

Increasingly competitive leagues and international tournaments are causing players to have shorter periods of rest every day, FIFPro warns. In some cases, footballers have less than two weeks of summer vacation. The physical and psychological exhaustion of players is becoming more pronounced, they added.

Heung-Min Son (Tottenham, South Korea), Lasse Schöne (Ajax, Denmark), Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil) and Sadio Mané (Liverpool, Senegal) are also on the list of players with the highest number of matches played.

FIFPro recommends that at the end of the season, players should have a 4-week holiday and two weeks off during the winter. It is necessary to limit the number of times a footballer plays consecutively for a period of fewer than five days. Five days is the golden period between two matches played to avoid injuries and health problems.

Furthermore, it is necessary to consider introducing the maximum number of matches a footballer can play in a season in order to preserve his health and performance. In addition, an early alert system should be introduced to monitor the players' workloads and help them plan their performances.

To meet the demands of the match calendar, players are often asked to push their limits, without enough rest and refreshment, said Theo van Seggelen, Secretary-General of FIFPro.

This means that they cannot provide maximum impact, but even worse, players face periods of great mental and physical tension. Scientific research has confirmed that the health of top-level footballers is in jeopardy due to the current tight schedule and number of matches.

Van Seggelen called on all participants of football competitions to jointly establish a mechanism that would reduce pressure on players and preserve their health, career, and play as such.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

55 footballers have entered the shortlist of FIFA’s best team of 2018.