No Messi! as Ronaldo, Modric and Salah nominated for FIFA gong
Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah have been nominated for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
But there is no place for Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo scored 44 times for Real Madrid last term, including 15 strikes in the Champions League as the LaLiga giants claimed a third successive European title.
Modric was also pivotal to that success before inspiring Croatia’s run to the World Cup final.
Finalists: #TheBest FIFA Men’s Player Award
@Cristiano
@lukamodric10
@MoSalah
#FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/L1ckRiZTv6
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) September 3, 2018
Salah did not enjoy such a productive time in Russia, as Egypt bowed out at the group stage, but swept the board in terms of individual awards in England after a magnificent debut season for Champions League finalists Liverpool.
Like Ronaldo, Salah netted 44 times across all competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Messi is nominated for the Puskas Award for the best goal in the world over the past year thanks to his excellent World Cup effort against Nigeria.
Ronaldo, for his magnificent Champions League overhead kick against current employers Juventus, and Salah, courtesy of a solo effort versus Merseyside rivals Everton, are also in the running among a 10-strong field.
World Cup performances heavily influenced world football’s governing body in its nominations across the board, with France captain Hugo Lloris and Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois put forward alongside Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel for the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award.
Zinedine Zidane’s three Champions Leagues in a row as Madrid coach means he, like Ronaldo, is up for back-to-back awards in his category, with World Cup finalists Didier Deschamps and Zlatko Dalic the other tacticians in the frame.
