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It's that time of the year when football fans have their eyes on not only on the domestic leagues and the UEFA Champions League matches but also on the award ceremonies. After the UEFA Awards for the season 2017-18 it’s time for the global governing body's function, FIFA- The Best awards 2018.
Along with the announcement of the FIFPro World XI, there are several awards up for grabs, the Best Men's Coach of the year, the Best Women’s Player of the year, the Best Women’s Coach of the year, the Best Goalkeeper, the Best Fans award, FIFA Puskas award but none will attract more eyeballs than the Best Men’s Player of the year award.
The award for this year adds more significance as the performances of the World Cup will also get counted. Shortly after the World Cup concluded, FIFA named 10 nominees for the award on 24th July. The major surprise in that list was the omission of Brazilian forward Neymar.
The Paris Saint Germain winger was injured in February and hence his season with the French Champions was cut short. Neymar was the key player for Brazil's quest for a record 6th World Cup. But the Selecao lost their quarterfinal match to Belgium and thereby hampering Neymar’s hopes of being a nominee for the individual award.
The list was then cut short to just three players with Luka Modric, Mohammed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo having a chance to win the award on Monday, 24th September. For the first time since 2006, Leo Messi won't be a part of the top 3 of a FIFA award, and that’s where everyone was surprised. Messi had scored 45 goals in 54 matches compared to Mo Salah's 44 in 52 games.
In addition to the personal statistics being in his favour, Messi also won the domestic double with Barcelona. Liverpool started a bit slow at the start of the last season and as a result, finished in 4th place in the league but reached the Champions League Final where they lost it to Real Madrid.
Two players, however, were certain to be a part of the shortlist. Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric. Both were a part of Real Madrid’s 13th UEFA Champions League win and played a crucial role in their triumph. The Portuguese talisman scored in every match in Europe’s elite competition until the quarterfinals. He was the second highest top scorer of La Liga only behind Leo Messi. Although he was average at the World Cup in Russia, he still finished as the joint second highest goalscorer at the mega event.
And after that tourney, one man who stamped his authority as the favourite for most individual awards is Luka Modric. The midfielder Captained Croatia and lead their fairytale run to the final at the FIFA World Cup where they fell short to France. Modric won three Man of the match awards at the quadrennial event and also won the Adidas Golden Ball for his exquisite performances.
It’s a three-way battle, but Modric will fancy his chances as he has played consistently for both club and country over past the season and will wish to add to his UEFA player of the year award.
Ronaldo may well be the runner-up to his former teammate and the 10-year streak of either Messi or Ronaldo winning a FIFA award most probably will end in London today. Individually, Egyptian Salah was arguably the best player in 2017-18 but the lack of trophies has hurt his quest for the award.
The Best award ceremony will answer all our doubts and put an end to all the speculation around the same.
