The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder is up against Ronaldo and Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah
Croatia and Real Madrid star Luka Modric returns to
London on Monday with the best chance of being named Fifa's Player of the Year
anyone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has had for a decade.
That
decision will be the climax of the Best Fifa Football Awards show at the Royal
Festival Hall, with the 90-minute ceremony being broadcast online from 10.30pm
in the UAE.
The former
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder's hopes of breaking the 10-year Messi/Ronaldo
duopoly are based on two pillars: one, Messi has not made the short list for
the first time since 2007; and two, Modric was the player of the tournament at
this summer's World Cup and won Uefa's Player of the Year last month.
Ronaldo,
however, has been nominated for another player of the year prize, with
Liverpool and Egypt hero Mohamed Salah completing the line-up.
Since
2008, it has been Messi first and Ronaldo second five times, and Ronaldo first,
Messi second five times.
Ronaldo, of course, will have his backers again, in a
voting system that is equally weighted between national team managers, national
captains, representatives from the media and an online public vote.
The
33-year-old striker, who joined Juventus this summer, helped Real Madrid win a
third straight Uefa Champions League title last season, his fifth in total,
with 15 goals in the tournament. But Portugal did not progress beyond the last
16 in Russia, although Ronaldo did score a memorable hat-trick against Spain.
Modric was
also a key member of that Madrid side but he also drove Croatia to their first
appearance in a World Cup final, where they lost 4-2 to France but not before
beating the likes of Argentina, Russia and England.
Salah,
like Ronaldo, was not at his peak in Russia but he at least had the excuse of
not being fit following his controversial tangle with Sergio Ramos in the
Champions League final. Prior to that moment, though, the Egyptian was arguably
the hottest finisher in the world with his 32 Premier League goals a record for
a 38-game season.
The men's prize is one of nine awards up for grabs, with
Norway's Ada Hegerberg, Dzsenifer Marozsan of Germany and Brazilian Marta up
for the women's player-of-the-year gong.
There are
also men's and women's coaches of the year prizes, with France's Didier
Deschamps sure to win the former, while Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris and
Kasper Schmeichel are nominated for the top goalkeeper award.
Peru's
passionate World Cup supporters are nominated for the fans prize, as are the
Japanese and Senegalese supporters who cleaned up after themselves in Russia,
and Gareth Bale's breathtaking volley in the Champions League final is among 10
shortlisted for the Puskas prize given to the year's best goal.
The
remaining two prizes are places on the FIFA/FIFPro World XI - which will be
selected from a 55-strong list - and a Fair Play Award.
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