Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or on this day in 2018, marking the first time since 2007 the award did not go to either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder broke the stranglehold placed on France Football’s prestigious award by Messi and Ronaldo in the previous decade at a ceremony in Paris. Argentina forward Messi and former Real team-mate Ronaldo and had each won the Ballon d’Or on five occasions since Brazilian Kaka did so in 2007. In his acceptance speech, Modric said: “It’s a unique feeling. I am happy, proud and honoured. I have sensational emotions at the moment that are really hard to describe in words. “First of all, I would like to thank my team-mates and coaches at Real Madrid and all the people who work for Real Madrid, all my coaches and team-mates with the national team, all those who voted for me and of course, my family, my wife and kids. “They are fulfilling me as a person and helping me in all aspects to be successful as a professional. “As a kid, we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club, to win important trophies. I dreamed about it, but the Ballon d’Or was more than a childhood dream for me and it’s a real honour and a privilege to hold this trophy.” Modric’s recognition was reward for a fine 12 months during which he helped his club lift the Champions League for the third successive season before playing a key role in Croatia’s surge to the 2018 World Cup final. He won the Golden Ball for his contribution in Russia and was named the Best FIFA Footballer of the Year, and was the first Croatian to claim the Ballon d’Or. Modric, now 38, is still playing for Real Madrid and helped his country to the World Cup semi-finals last year in Qatar. Read More Eddie Howe salutes performance as Newcastle end gruelling week with Man Utd win Ding Junhui beats Judd Trump to set up UK final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan Pep Guardiola knows Man City fans will be behind team if ‘bad moments’ arrive Win ‘blows belief into Everton’ after points deduction – Sean Dyche Dwight McNeil fires Everton to morale-boosting win at Nottingham Forest Paul Heckingbottom stands by his work as Sheffield United lose again

Pubs and bars might open earlier than usual this Sunday so fans can watch England play Spain in the Women’s World Cup final at the early kick off of 11am. According to The Athletic, while they are yet to make a decision, UK government departments are holding talks to override licensing laws which give pubs specific hours to open and prohibits the sale of alcohol before 10am on a Sunday. Rules can be temporarily relaxed by the Home Secretary for “an occasion of exceptional international, national, or local significance” without the need for pubs to apply for a temporary event licence. This has happened for royal events such as jubilees and weddings and the FIFA World Cup in 2014, which was based in Brazil meaning that many games finished late at night in the UK. So hopefully they do the same for the final this weekend. It comes as England beat hosts Australia 3-1 in Wednesday’s semi-finals to book their place in the final and in doing so marked the first time England have reached a World Cup final since the men’s team won on home soil in 1966. Meanwhile, the UK government has also said there are “no plans” for a public holiday if England win the World Cup despite even the likes of Labour leader Keir Starmer calling for one. That's a shame, but fingers crossed the government does us a solid on the pubs front. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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