Luka Modric Wins the Ballon d'Or, Etching out Messi and Ronaldo

This year has been all smiles for the Real Madrid Midfielder. On carrying his homeland team to the world cup finals and winning the UEFA champions league, he has been completely astonishing to watch this year.

The 33-year-old came into the year gunning for glory and he's got it as he broke the Messi-Ronaldo ten year winning streak which held since 2007. He happily received his award saying:

"It's a unique feeling, I'm happy, proud and it's an honour. There are extraordinary emotions at the moment."

I just want to thank all those who helped me to be here tonight, I thank my teammates, my coaches, the staff and Real Madrid, all those who work there, the coaches and teammates in the national team, the ones who voted for me and my family, which allows me to blossom as a person. Always have dreams, I wanted to play in a big club, win titles, the Ballon d'Or is all I could dream of as a child, it's an honour to win it tonight."

"It's a great pleasure to be here around these players. I keep thinking I'm trying to her used to being part of this group of exceptional players who are won the Ballon d'Or in history. It's a great pleasure to be part of this group."

"Throughout my career, I understood that work, persistence, believing in yourself is the basis for expressing your talent. I like a saying: The best is never easy. For me, it was not easy. It was necessary to seize the opportunities".

Here are the top ten in the ranking for the 2018 FIFA Ballon D'or nominees:

1. Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid)
3. Antoine Griezmann (France, Athletico Madrid)
4. Kylian Mbappe (France, Paris-Saint-German)
5. Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
6. Mohammed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool FC)
7. Raphael Varane (France, Real Madrid)
8. Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea)
9. Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
10. Harry Kane (England, Tottenham)

And there you have it! This is the third award won by Luka Modric this year; the first being the World cup best player and the second FIFA men's best player. It had truly been a great year for the sportsman.

Lionel Messi managed fifth and Neymar Jr. managed 12th position. This ranking does not sit well with some fans at the moment. One said this:

"Luka Modric wins the 2018 Ballon d'Or award 🏆 but Lionel Messi won La liga unbeaten, Copa del Ray, Supercopa de España & finished as Europe's top goal scorer🤔 #BallonDor"

Another said this:

"Modric winning the #BallonDor is disrespectful to this two players. SMH🙄"

Upon proving himself this year, fans would be expecting more from him come next year and hopefully, he doesn't fail to come through.