PARIS: Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or award for the first time on Monday, ending the 10-year dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. He was voted player of the tournament.
“As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies,” Modric said. “The Ballon d’Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honor and a privilege to hold this trophy.”
Ronaldo was second in the Ballon d’Or followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France’s teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth in the polling. Brazil star Neymar, who was third last year, was a lowly 12th despite a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain.
Also, Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural women’s Ballon d’Or.
Modric, who has won the Champions League four times with Madrid, was fifth in Ballon d’Or polling last year.
“2018 is a dream year for me,” the 33-year-old Modric said. “Throughout my career I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success.”
Modric’s father was shown on the big screen during the ceremony at the imperious Grand Palais in Paris, wiping away tears.
Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.
Ronaldo also won the Champions League last season with Modric, before leaving to join Juventus. He scored a hat trick against Spain at the World Cup but he failed to make an impression when Portugal lost to Uruguay in the round of 16.
Mbappe and Griezmann scored in the 4-2 World Cup final win against Croatia. Mbappe won the domestic treble with PSG, while Griezmann scored twice for Atletico Madrid in the Europa League final win against Marseille.
France coach Didier Deschamps said a France player should have won the award.
“They deserve it because of what they did with the national team at the World Cup and also because of the trophies they won with their clubs,” Deschamps said.
Messi was fifth in the voting, having been runner-up to Ronaldo the past two years and in the top three every year since 2007. Modric had never previously been in the top three.
The previous oldest winner was central defender Fabio Cannvaro, who was also 33 when he won it in 2006 after helping Italy win the World Cup.
The 19-year-old Mbappe — the youngest player to score in a World Cup final — also won the Raymond Kopa Trophy awarded to the best young player.
Hegerberg is a three-time Women’s Champions League winner with French side Lyon and scored a tournament-record 15 times last season.
France Football magazine has been awarding the Ballon d’Or since 1956, and created a women’s award for the first time this year.
“I want to say thanks to France Football. It’s a huge step for women’s football,” Hegerberg said. “I want to end this speech with a message to all young girls in the world. Believe in yourselves.”
The outspoken 23-year-old Hegerberg said she won’t play for Norway at the Women’s World Cup in France next June.
Taking a stand against what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway, she hasn’t played for the national team since it crashed out of the group stage of the Women’s European Championship in 2017 without scoring a goal.
After collecting her Ballon d’Or, Hegerberg told The Associated Press she has no plans to reconsider her decision taken to preserve her “authenticity and my values, as a person, as a footballer.”
“A lot of things need to be done to make the conditions better for women who play football,” she said. “It’s all about how we respect women’s football. I don’t think the respect has been there.
“Sometimes you have to take tough decisions to stay true to yourself. I let them know, quite clearly, what I found wasn’t working.”
Luka Modric wins Ballon d’Or to end Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s reign
Luka Modric wins Ballon d’Or to end Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s reign
- Real Madrid and Croatia star picks up award after Champions League glory and World Cup heroics.
- First time in 10 years a player other than Messi and Ronaldo has won the coveted prize.
Hosts Morocco cruise, South Africa advance into Cup of Nations last 16
- Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi
- Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca
- Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir
RABAT: Ayoub El Kaabi’s brace helped Morocco to a 3-0 win over Zambia on Monday as the Africa Cup of Nations hosts cruised into the last 16 while South Africa beat Zimbabwe 3-2 to also secure a berth in the knockout phase.
African player of the year Achraf Hakimi made his comeback from almost two months out injured for Morocco as Mali also qualified for the next round and Mohamed Salah was rested for Egypt’s 0-0 draw against Angola.
Morocco are the tournament favorites as the host nation and Africa’s top-ranked team but they were booed off by supporters following a 1-1 draw against Mali in their last outing.
Nevertheless, Walid Regragui’s team knew a win against Zambia at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat would guarantee their progress to the next round in first place in Group A and they outclassed their opponents.
Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi.
In between, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz swept home Morocco’s second goal on 27 minutes at the end of a fine team move, again involving Ounahi.
Diaz has found the net in all three of Morocco’s games so far and he and El Kaabi join Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez on three goals at the top of the Cup of Nations scoring charts.
Captain Hakimi came off the bench in the 64th minute for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in action for Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of November.
Morocco will stay in Rabat for a last-16 tie in the same stadium on Sunday against one of the best third-place finishers.
“Scoring early on changes everything,” said Regragui. “We need to continue like this but not get carried away and keep our feet on the ground.”
Zambia go out and have now failed to win any of their 12 AFCON matches across four tournament appearances since lifting the trophy in 2012.
Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca, a game they ended with 10 men after Amadou Haidara was sent off.
It was a third stalemate in as many matches for the Eagles, who will remain in Morocco’s largest city for a last-16 tie on Saturday.
Salah rested by Egypt
Earlier, Oswin Appollis converted a late penalty to give South Africa victory against Zimbabwe in Marrakech as Bafana Bafana qualified for the knockout stage.
Rising star Tshepang Moremi gave South Africa an early lead with a deflected effort.
However, falling behind motivated Zimbabwe and they deservedly levelled on 19 minutes thanks to the individual brilliance of Tawanda Maswanhise from Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.
Maswanhise gained possession inside the South African half, dribbled past two opponents and fired the ball wide of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams into the far corner.
South Africa began the second period aggressively and regained the lead on 50 minutes through Burnley striker Lyle Foster, for whom it was a second goal of the tournament.
Zimbabwe brought it back to 2-2 on 73 minutes when Aubrey Modiba conceded an own goal, but Appollis then netted from an 82nd-minute penalty to give Bafana the lead for the third time, which they retained.
“Once again we fell asleep after a good start. We continuously lost possession,” said 73-year-old South Africa coach Hugo Broos.
“Our passing was bad at times and we should have concentrated on retaining possession in the closing minutes instead of seeking a fourth goal. We have to work on controlling games.”
Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir. South Africa finished with six points, Angola two and Zimbabwe one.
The last round of group games continues on Tuesday, with Tanzania playing Tunisia and Nigeria facing Uganda in Group C. Senegal take on Benin and the Democratic Republic of Congo play Botswana in Group D.
