Two Croatians make The Guardian’s list of the 100 Best Footballers in the World
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
For the 10th time, British newspaper The Guardian has released its annual list of the 100 Best Footballers in the World.
Former players, coaches, and journalists from all over the globe took part and casted their votes with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski taking the top spot ahead of Lionel Messi and Mo Salah.
The list featured two Croatian internationals, captain Luka Modrić at no. 40.
“Ah, Luka, don’t ever go. At the start of last season it looked like he might, like time had finally caught up with him, like Madrid’s midfield was about to be renewed, and that was reflected in this list: he was 71st. But then he returned to the heart of everything good and this season he has been superb. Up 31 places – and he could be even further up than that. Aged 36, he’s still better than the rest. Just don’t say the word rest to him. “I feel happier when I’m playing,” he says,” Sid Lowe said.
And Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozović who was 81st on the list.
“Antonio Conte defined Brozovic as “the darling of the [Inter] team” that won the Scudetto for the first time since 2010. Even in a side that prided themselves on hard graft, the Croatian pushed himself further than the rest – covering more distance per game than any other player in Serie A last season. Yet Brozovic is much more than a domestique peddling away anonymously so that teammates can shine. His vision and incisive passing were fundamental to Inter’s fast-break approach under Conte, and remain so now that Simone Inzaghi is adapting the Nerazzurri to a more possession-focused approach,” wrote Nicky Bandini.
Marcelo Brozović (Photo credit: Антон Зайцев/Soccer.ru/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Making the top 10 after Lewandowski, Messi and Salah were Karim Benzema, Jorginho, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kanté and Kevin De Bruyne
You can see the full list here.
