As captains of their respective national teams, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were given votes in deciding The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018. It’s an award that the two have dominated — in it’s various guises — ever since Kaka was named FIFA World Player of the Year back in 2007 (Messi finished second and Ronaldo third that year).
It is pretty safe to say Luka Modric is living his best life right now.
Luka Modric has claimed The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah (and dare I say it at risk of being murdered, Lionel Messi), but that contentious decision pales compared to everything else that unfolded at a star-studded gala (sans Messi and Ronaldo) in London on Monday evening.
Italy is synonymous with soccer. They have always been one of the top-ranked teams in the world. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (tied with Germany for second, behind Brazil). They've been a team others have simultaneously envied and been afraid to play. A team that generated stars like Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero. A team with grace, class and a wondrous reputation.
Failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup was hard to digest, very hard, so our hot soccer-blooded hearts make us feel that everything is wrong, and our soccer is the worst. That’s just the heat of the moment; truth is that U.S. soccer is pretty good, and it has gotten better and better over the last couple of decades.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was reminded the hard way that fame and fortune does not make you immune to the law.
The Frenchman, who captained his country to World Cup victory this summer, pleaded guilty to a drunk-driving charge on Wednesday. He will have to pay a $65,000 fine and is banned from getting behind the wheel for 20 months.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise given the outcome of the 2017-18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award voting (finishing order: Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah), but the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 are Modric, Ronaldo and Salah, leaving the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne on the outside looking in.
While members of the French national team were dancing in the rain, kissing their new trophy and celebrating a well-deserved FIFA World Cup victory in Moscow on July 15, waiting for them back in the locker room was a unique surprise.
The world watched as Croatia president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic soaked in the moment, Russian president Vladimir Putin refused to allow himself to get wet and France reveled in its second world championship.
To our British readers or anyone who happens to be on vacation over yonder, you might want to check your wallets for some Harry Kane money.
Alas, "it" did not come home, but football fans in the UK have something to be excited about claiming as their own. Micro-engraver Graham Short has snuck the face of England’s captain/World Cup hero on to six £5 notes, each worth a whopping £50,000 ($65,676), in honor of him winning of the World Cup Golden Boot.
Sepp Blatter’s former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke received a ban appeal rejection on Friday, July 27. The 57-year-old was ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to complete his 10-year suspension from all football activities. Additionally, the Frenchman is to pay an approximate fine of $100,500.