Ronaldo, Modric, Salah up for UEFA award

No French men make the shortlist for best Europe-based player

NYON, SWITZERLAND— The UEFA award for the best Europebased player last season won’t be won by a World Cup champion from France.

Instead, three-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo was joined Monday by former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah on a shortlist selected by Champions League coaches and invited journalists across Europe.

Three France players were in the top 10: Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid was fourth, Kylian Mbappe of Paris SaintGermain was sixth and Raphael Varane of Real Madrid was eighth.

The award typically rewards Champions League performances — with all three on the shortlist having played in the final in May — but voters can take the World Cup into account. Coaches could not vote for players on their own team.

“Players are judged on their performances in all competitions — domestic, continental and international,” UEFA said in a statemesnt.

The winner will be announced on Aug. 30 in Monaco at the draw for the group stage of the Champions League.

At the World Cup in Russia, Griezmann won the Bronze Ball as the third-best player at the tournament, selected by a FIFA expert panel, plus the Silver Boot for second place in the scoring table.

Modric won the Golden Ball for captaining Croatia to the final.

UEFA will also name the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward in Monaco next week. Ronaldo and Salah are on the forwards shortlist with Messi, and Modric is joined by Kevin De Bruyne and Toni Kroos on the midfielders list.

Varane is on an all-Madrid defenders list with Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, and the goalkeeper candidates are Alisson, Gianluigi Buffon and Keylor Navas.

UEFA will also announce the women’s player of the year from a shortlist of Pernille Harder (Denmark and Wolfsburg), Ada Hegerberg (Norway and Lyon), and Amandine Henry (France and Lyon).