OneFootball
Dan Burke·4 December 2018
OneFootball
Dan Burke·4 December 2018
On Monday evening Luka ModriÄ scooped the 2018 Ballon dâOr, completing a hat-trick of accolades following his Uefa Menâs Player of the Year and The Best Fifa Menâs Player awards.
The 33-year-old broke the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo hegemony over world footballâs most prestigious individual prize and became the first Croatian player in history to pick up the gong.
Here are five reasons he won it âŠ
ModriÄâs first Real Madrid goal of the 2017/18 season didnât arrive until 21 January 2018, but it was worth the wait.
After being teed up by Ronaldo, he curled home a beautiful strike in a 7-1 victory over Deportivo de La Coruña.
He would end the season with just two goals in all competitions.
ModriÄ helped Madrid to a third successive Champions League crown with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool in Kiev in May, and his performance was the ultimate midfield masterclass.
He ended up being named in the Champions League team of the season for the third consecutive time, and later won the Uefa Club Football Award for Best Midfielder of the Champions League season for the second time in a row.
The 2018 World Cup was an amazing point in ModriÄâs career but it could have been a very different story.
Croatia faced Denmark in the round of 16 in what was their first knock-out tie since 1998. In the second half of extra-time, ModriÄ had the chance to win the game from the penalty spot but his poor effort was saved by Kasper Schmeichel.
A lesser man might have retreated into his shell after a moment like that but ModriÄ stepped up again in the penalty shootout and he made no mistake the second time around.
The meeting between ModriÄâs Croatia and Messiâs Argentina was one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures of the World Cup group stages, and it didnât disappoint.
That was largely thanks to a certain midfielder lighting it up with one of the goals of the tournament.
With 10 minutes remaining and Croatia leading 1-0, ModriÄ flummoxed NicolĂĄs Otamendi with a drop of the shoulder before firing home beautifully from 25-yards.
It proved to be his only goal from open play at the World Cup but what a goal it was.
Despite ending up on the losing side to France in the final, ModriÄ was named the World Cupâs best player and it was an honour he richly deserved.
He captained Croatia to the nationâs first ever World Cup final with a series of displays full of not just class but great courage too.
If youâre still not convinced that he deserved the Ballon dâOr this year, this compilation of his best bits in Russia might just change your mind.