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The 2018 FIFA The Best Awards was successfully held on Monday in London, in an event that saw worthy footballers being rewarded for their efforts in the year under review.
The biggest winner on the night was Luka Modric, who was voted Player of the Year after beating off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
The Real Madrid star is a worthy recipient of the award, having played a key role in Los Blancos’ run to Champions League glory, as well as Croatia’s surge to the final of the World Cup.
That, though, has not stopped the FIFA Best Football Awards from courting controversy from some football fans. But following the revelation of the votes from coaches, captains and journalists, it is clear that the winners emerged by popular decision.
However, one other thing that has got the world talking is the fact that Lionel Messi voted for rival Ronaldo in his three-man list for the FIFA Best Player award.
The Argentine voted Modric first, picked Kylian Mbappe second and put Ronaldo third on his list, to the surprise of many. Ronaldo, however, did not vote for Messi in his top three candidates for the award.
The Portuguese opted for Raphael Verane, Modric and Antoine Griezmann in that order. The world of Twitter has gone wild since the votes of each player were made public by FIFA.
For many fans, it is shocking that Messi would vote for his perennial adversary when he could have just picked one of his Barcelona teammates. Others also believe the Barca captain only voted for Ronaldo because he himself could not make the final three nominee spots.
But for now, let’s take a look at some of the reactions from Twitter after it was revealed that Messi actually voted for Ronaldo:
