The story appears on

Page A15

December 28, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeSportsAwards

Modric beats Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year

Croatia captain Luka Modric was named Balkan Athlete of the Year yesterday, becoming only the second soccer player to scoop the prize after Bulgaria鈥檚 former European Footballer of the Year Hristo Stoichkov in 1994.

Ballon d鈥橭r winner Modric won the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with his Spanish club Real Madrid as well as being instrumental in helping Croatia reach the World Cup final in Russia. He was awarded the tournament鈥檚 Golden Ball Award. The 33-year-old, who received 75 points in the 46th poll, organized by Bulgarian News Agency, beat Serbia鈥檚 world No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic, who topped the annual poll five times in a row between 2011 and 2015. Another tennis player, Romania鈥檚 Simona Halep, who finished the year as women鈥檚 world No. 1 for the second straight season, came third in the poll, conducted by state-run news agencies in nine Balkan countries.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend