Move Over, Ronaldo and Messi. Luka Modric is the player of the year of FIFA.

LONDON – Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has been named FIFA Player of the Year for the 2017-18 season, ending a decade of domination by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Modric, 33, was honored for winning the Champions League with Real Madrid for the fourth time in five seasons and leading Croatia to his first World Cup final. In the women's match, Marta won her sixth player of the year title and her first since 2010, after leading Brazil to the glory of Copa America Femenina.

"This trophy is not mine," Modric said. "It's for all my teammates Real Madrid. For all my teammates of the Croatian national team. For all the coaches for whom I played. "

Messi and Ronaldo have been the only winners of the first individual FIFA award since 2008, each winning five titles.

This year, Ronaldo finished second to Modric, his former Real Madrid team-mate. Mohamed Salah finished third with a record 32 goals in the English Premier League and helped Liverpool reach their first final in 11 years.

Modric, who is 5 feet 8 inches tall, was questioned early in his career because of his size.

"These things are not a burden, they only motivated me," said Modric at the World Cup. "You do not have to be a boy on your belt to play football."

Modric was charged with perjury in March as part of an investigation related to his transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham in 2008. Prosecutors claimed that Modric had made a false statement last year about its financial transactions with a former director of Zagreb. .

But it was a festive night on the Thames, leaving in tears Zvonimir Boban, the former Croatian captain.

"It was my inspiration, and this team convinced us that we could achieve something big in Russia," said Modric about Boban and the first Croatian World Cup team in 1998. " We hope to be the same for the next generations. "

Didier Deschamps was elected director of the year after becoming the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach. Reynald Pedros, who led Lyon to the French and Champions League championships, has been named best female manager.