Croatian midfielder Luka Modric playing for Real Madrid claimed the 2018 Ballon d'Or in Paris on Monday to end the past decade dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the award.
Modric beat Ronaldo, Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and another France World Cup winning member Kylian Mbappe in the vote. Messi finished fifth, Xinhua news agency reported.
“As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies,” Modric said. “The Ballon d’Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honour and a privilege to hold this trophy. 2018 is a dream year for me. Throughout my career, I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success.”
The Ballon d'Or caps off a phenomenal year for Modric with both his club and country. Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid for the third successive year also making it four out of the last five. Added to which, he was exceptional in the middle of the pitch for the Croatian team that had a historic run to the final of the World Cup this year in Russia. The 33-year old Croatian was awarded the FIFA’s World Cup 2018 Golden Ball which is an award given to the best player of the tournament. He was also voted as UEFA’s Player of the Year 2018, Best FIFA Footballer of the Year and the number one player by International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Founded in 1956 by France Football magazine, Ballon d'Or honours the player with the best performance over the year based on voting by football journalists.
It was merged with FIFA World Player of the Year into FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 before the two awards were separated in 2016.
With IANS inputs