{"id":2962,"date":"2018-09-03T09:44:06","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T14:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=2962"},"modified":"2018-09-04T09:45:14","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T14:45:14","slug":"messi-missing-from-player-of-the-year-shortlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=2962","title":{"rendered":"Messi Missing from Player of the Year Shortlist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Lionel Messi has been omitted from the shortlist for FIFA’s men’s player of the year award, which features Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah.<\/p>\n

Barcelona and Argentina forward Messi had featured in the top three for 11 straight years. He was runner-up in the prize in 2007 and 2008 before winning the title for the first of five years in 2009.<\/p>\n

Portugal and Juventus forward Ronaldo, like Messi, is a five-time winner, and has reached the top three alongside Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Modric and Salah, the Egypt and Liverpool forward.<\/p>\n

Messi’s subsequent wins came in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, while Ronaldo won the title in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n

The award was first introduced as the FIFA world player of the year prize (1991-2009), before becoming the Ballon d’Or (2010-15) and subsequently part of FIFA’s ‘The Best’ awards.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo won a third successive Champions League title with Real Madrid in 2017-18, finishing as top scorer in the competition and had Modric as a team-mate.<\/p>\n

Modric helped Croatia to the World Cup final, which France won, while Salah’s goals propelled Liverpool to the Champions League final, which Real won.<\/p>\n

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