Ballon d'Or 2018: 3 unique feats Luka Modric will achieve if he wins the coveted trophy
The European Footballer of the Year award or Ballon d'Or, as it is more popularly known as, was introduced in 1956. There have been 25 recipients of the award till date and almost all the true greats of the game have won the award. It is a very prestigious award and a matter of great pride for the winner to win it.
For the last decade or so, however, the Ballon d'Or has become a two-horse race as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the honours since 2008. Both have won the award on 5 occasions each.
However, Luka Modric, the Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder, has a very good chance of winning the award this year because of his outstanding performances for both his national team and club.
The Ballon d'Or winner would be announced on 3rd December and Modric could possibly turn out to be the chosen one. We would now take a look at 3 unique feats he is going to achieve if he goes on to win the award:
#1 He would become the first Croatian player to win the award
Croatia is a tiny nation and has a population of only 3.5 million. It almost defies belief that they actually managed to finish runners-up in the World Cup and much of the credit should go to Modric, the Golden Ball winner in the tournament.
He was magnificent in almost all the matches and scored 2 goals in the tournament. Croatia defeated teams like Argentina and England on their way to the final and Modric was their talisman throughout it. Modric also won the UEFA Champions League for the 3rd consecutive time in 2017-18.
Quite understandably, no other Croatian player has come even close to winning the Ballon d'Or. Davor Suker was among the best players in the World in the 1998-99 season as Croatia finished 3rd in the 1998 World Cup. Suker finished the 1998 Ballon d'Or awards in second place.
In fact, Modric would become only the second East European player to win the award, should he win the coveted prize on 3rd December. Lev Yashin of the erstwhile USSR had previously won the award in 1963 and remains the only East European player to have done so.