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Luka Modric has been named FIFA\u2019s men\u2019s player of the year after beating off stiff competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.<\/p>\nLuka Modric has been named FIFA\u2019s men\u2019s player of the year after beating off stiff competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.<\/p>\n
The former Tottenham midfielder was rewarded for his excellence for both beaten World Cup finalists Croatia and Champions League winners Real Madrid at the governing body\u2019s The Best Awards at London\u2019s Royal Festival Hall on Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Modric\u2019s win breaks the Lionel Messi-Ronaldo duopoly of the last 10 years and it follows his player of the tournament prize at Russia 2018 and UEFA player of the year accolade last month.<\/p>\n
Speaking after accepting his trophy, Modric said: \u201cIt\u2019s a great honor and a beautiful feeling to stand here with this amazing trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I would like to give congratulations to Mohamed and Cristiano for the great season that they\u2019ve had and I\u2019m sure in the future they will have another opportunity to fight for this trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis trophy is not just mine, it\u2019s for all my Real Madrid team-mates, for all my team-mates from the Croatia national team, for all the coaches that I have played for. Without them, this would not be possible and thank you a lot to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis trophy is also for my family, without whom I would not be the player and person that I am. They are my \u2018the best\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was some consolation for Salah, who had earlier picked up the Puskas Award for the season\u2019s best goal, his stunning strike in the Merseyside derby at Anfield, when Gareth Bale\u2019s superb Champions League final volley had been widely tipped to win it.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s World Cup-winning boss Didier Deschamps claimed the coach of the year title ahead of Croatia\u2019s Zlatko Dalic and Zinedine Zidane, formerly of Real.<\/p>\n
Deschamps said: \u201cWe all know that being a coach, alone we can\u2019t do anything, We are nothing without our players and I want to thank my whole team who worked to get me here and get me this trophy tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s Marta collected her sixth women\u2019s player of the year award, but her first since 2010 after finishing as runner-up on three occasions during the intervening years, while former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois was named goalkeeper of the year.<\/p>\n