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Uzone.id – Not Lionel Messi. Not Cristiano Ronaldo. Title The Best FIFA Men`s Player 2018 won by Luka Modric. Finally, FIFA can officially award the world’s best player award to a human, not an alien.
For the first time since 2007—when Kaka won the title FIFA World Player of the Year— the title of the world’s best player was won by a human, not an alien. Even though the title had changed to FIFA Ballon d`Or (2010-2015) and The Best FIFA Men’s Player (since 2016).
Modric is judged to perform better than Messi and Ronaldo, who are mentioned as the two best players in the world, throughout the 2017/18 season. Does it deserve the title?
Luka Modric ended the 2017/18 season by leading Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, Club World Cup, and Champions League. Apart from that, he also brought the Croatian national team to the final round of the 2018 World Cup.
Compared to Messi and Ronaldo, Modric’s achievements are much more flashy. Messi “only” won the Spanish La Liga title and the Copa del Rey. Messi was not in the top three this time. Ronaldo, who last season was still at Real Madrid (now Juventus), lost to Modric by achieving the World Cup.
If Modric makes it to the final, Ronaldo and the Portugal national team will be eliminated in the round of 16. Ronaldo, who was the best player in 2016 and 2017, had to settle for sitting in second place.
The third place is occupied by Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian national team striker is actually without a trophy. But his performance in the 2017/18 season was extraordinary.
As a team, he took Liverpool to the Champions League final. He scored a total of 44 goals from 52 appearances; even though his goal score is still less than that of Messi (45 goals from 54 matches) and Ronaldo (44 goals from 44 matches).
From here it is quite clear that Modric deserves to be named the best player in the world for the 2018 season. Even though football is a team game, the ability of the player who was 33 years old at that time influenced the game of Real Madrid and Croatia as a whole.
Modric’s goal score at Real Madrid is only two. His assists were only seven. In the World Cup, he scored two goals and one assist. But Modric’s greatness cannot be seen from statistical numbers alone. Moreover, he is not Ronaldo, Messi, or Salah who has the main task of scoring goals.
Modric occupies the central midfielder post both at Real Madrid and in Croatia. Even though in detail the game there are different roles when he wears the Madrid and Croatia uniforms, overall, the Zadar-born player is the soul of the team. Madrid and Croatia have a capable midfield thanks to their ability to balance the midfield both in defense and attack.
In the 4-3-3 formation used by Real Madrid or Croatia, he is not an attacking midfielder who just waits for the ball near the opponent’s penalty box. He, along with Toni Kroos at Real Madrid or Ivan Rakitic in Croatia, is at the front holding midfielder to be a bridge between the back and front lines.
However, in terms of role and based on statistics, Modric is no better than Kroos. In La Liga, for example, Kroos is the midfielder with the most passes per match, 76.7 passes per match. Modric makes “only” 59.9 passes per game. Meanwhile, Kroos made 64 key passes while Modric made “only” 39 key passes. However, in terms of roles, the two are not much different.
What differentiates the quality of Kroos and Modric is their performance at the World Cup. Kroos, who is also the soul of Germany’s game, could not help his team qualify for the knockout phase. Even though Kroos’ teammates in the German national team are more qualified than Modric’s teammates in Croatia.
But with Modric as captain, and Zlatko Dalic as coach, the Croatian players, most of whom do not have flashy names, managed to achieve their best achievements and best performances.
Modric’s presence on the pitch for Croatia truly showcases the skill and talent of this former Tottenham Hotspur star. At 33 years old, he remains a key player that coach Dalic consistently relies on. Throughout the knockout phase, he has played a full 120 minutes in seven matches, with the only exception being the final, where he played the standard 90 minutes.
Despite his age, Modric’s stamina and quality are impressive. Croatia employs a pressing style of play, where players—including Modric—immediately work to regain possession the moment their opponents enter their defensive zone.
Not only the World Cup, this 172 cm tall player also succeeded in bringing the team he played for to the Champions League title. For the 2017/18 season, when Messi only performed great in La Liga, Ronaldo, and Salah only in the Champions League, and Mbappe, Hazard, and De Bruyne only in the World Cup, Modric was outstanding in all three competitions.
