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Recently the list of the top three nominees for the best FIFA men's player 2018 was announced which included Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Luka Modric(Real Madrid), and Mohamed Salah(Liverpool).
The one player who was overlooked by FIFA was the Argentine, Lionel Messi. The first time he was shortlisted for this accolade was back in 2006 and since then, Messi was a part of the top three nominee list for consecutively 12 years. The streak is finally broken, as this year he wasn't selected for the top three list despite having a great season.
Luka Modric arguably had the best season of his life as he won the 4th UEFA Champions League title with Real Madrid and carried Croatia to the final of the FIFA World Cup 2018 and won the Golden Ball (awarded to the best player of World Cup).
Ronaldo too had a superb season, winning the 5th UEFA Champions League Title and being the top scorer of the competition with 15 goals, though he couldn't help Portugal to get past Uruguay in the round of 16.
There is no doubt that Mohamed Salah hit the ground running last season with some sensational performances throughout the year as he scored 32 goals in 37 games for Liverpool in the premier league 2017-18 season and helped his team to reach the finals of the UEFA Champions League, scoring 11 goals throughout the campaign.
He did manage to help Egypt qualify for the World Cup but Egypt were sent home even before the knockout games. Some of the individual awards that Salah won last year are - the PFA Player of the Year award 2017-18, Premier League Golden Boot 2017-18.4
On the other hand, Leo had another magnificent season scoring 34 goals in 36 games which helped Barcelona to clinch their 25th LaLiga title with facing just a single defeat throughout the season.
The Argentine captain is undoubtedly one of the best players to play for their country as Leo carried Argentina on his back to help them qualify for this year's edition of FIFA World Cup. Despite his heroics, Argentina were crushed by France in the Round of 16.
However, in the UEFA Champions League, he couldn't perform as well as he was expected to, but still managed to bag 6 goals in 10 games. Some of the individual awards that Messi won last year are - La Liga Player of the year award 2017-18, La Liga Golden Boot 2-17-18, European Golden Shoe 2017-18.
Apart from goals scored, Messi had more assists, more chances created, more free kick goals scored, more dribbles completed in comparison to Mohamed Salah. The only field in which we can consider that Salah had better stats than Leo was in the UEFA Champions League.
Did Mohamed Salah really deserve to be selected ahead of Lionel Messi in the top three nominees of the best FIFA Men's Player 2018? Tell us your views in the comment section!
