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The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 Gala held in London on Monday witnessed players from across the football world coming together to celebrate individuals for their achievements in the game.
The night saw several surprises which led to the usual controversy that comes with such awards. Fans have been left outraged and confused at certain decisions that were made at the gala and they have understandably taken to Twitter to address the problems.
#1 Messi and Ronaldo's notable absence from the gala
The presence of the Argentine and Portuguese aces at the award ceremony has been in the headlines days before the gala as a FIFA football award show without two of the greatest players in football history sounds ridiculous.
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After all the speculation, fans were shocked to learn that the five-time Ballon d'Ór winners were not present at FIFA's extravagant night.
Messi did not make it to the three-man shortlist this year for the first time in twelve years. Ronaldo, however, was nominated along with Croatia's Luka Modrić and Egypt's Mohamed Salah.
Modrić, who was the eventual winner, was already the favourite to win the award after the pivotal role he played in taking Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League and Croatia to a World Cup final.
Spanish publication Marca reported that Ronaldo's absence was due to the fact that Juventus played a game on Sunday night, and have a Serie A game on Wednesday against Bologna.
It may be recalled that Ronaldo also missed the UEFA Best Player awards which were held in August, where ex-Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric was deemed as the Best European Footballer of the Year 2018.
Messi, who was initially thought to be attending the gala, only made it to the top 10 list this year. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Argentine was unable to fly to the capital for the ceremony due to family reasons.
#2 Mohamed Salah wins the Puskas award for Best Goal of the Year
It was a big night for Mohamed Salah as the Egyptian was selected in the three-man shortlist for the FIFA Player of the Year award.
The Liverpool ace scored 32 goals to beat Harry Kane to the Premier League Golden Boot last season. He also played a vital role in getting Egypt to its first World Cup appearance since 1990.
Despite missing out on the accolade to Croatia's Luka Modric, the Egyptian walked away with the Puskas prize for Best Goal of the Year, much to the delight of Liverpool fans.
The decision came as a shock to fans who mostly assumed that Real Madrid's Gareth Bale would walk away with the award for his overhead kick for the Spanish side against Liverpool.
#3 The inclusion of Dani Alves in the FIFPro XI
The inclusion of Paris Saint-Germain man Dani Alves in the FIFPro XI was one of the shocking decisions made at the gala on Monday.
Alves has consistently been nominated in the FIFPro XI for many years now, but fans are convinced that there are a lot more deserving candidates this year.
Despite helping PSG win the Ligue 1 title, an injury towards the end of last season forced him to miss the FIFA World Cup in Russia. This drew controversy as fans began questioning how he was included in the FIFPro XI even though he was absent from FIFA's elite competition.
#4 Players like Courtois, Salah, Griezmann not included in FIFPro XI
The release of the FIFPro XI at the Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 Gala on Monday has stirred up some controversy as fans believe that a lot of deseerving players were snubbed from the list.
Real Madrid had the most players in the pick of football's stars for 2018 with four current players featuring in the list.
The full list includes David de Gea, Dani Alves, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, N'Golo Kante, Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fans were outraged that players such as Mo Salah who won the Puskas Goal of the Year award, World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann, Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois who won the Goalkeeer of the Year award were left out of the list.
