LONDON — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long domination of football’s individual awards is under threat from Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric and Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah when FIFA’s player of the year is announced on Monday.
For the first time in 12 years Messi is not even nominated among the three finalists for the award after early exits for Argentina at the World Cup and Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Both Messi and Ronaldo have won FIFA’s award in different guises five times each, and the Portuguese can move out on his own after winning a third straight Champions League title with Real Madrid.
For a sixth straight season, Ronaldo was the Champions League’s top scorer with 15 goals and also scored four times at the World Cup, including a hat-trick against Spain in a thrilling 3-3 draw to open Portugal’s campaign.
However, Portugal’s last 16 exit to Uruguay in Russia and Ronaldo’s failure to score in the semi-finals or final of the Champions League has opened the door for Modric. — AFP
