Ronaldo, Modric, Salah on UEFA player of the year shortlist

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Champions League Final - Real Madrid v Liverpool - NSC Olympic Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine - May 26, 2018 Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after winning the Champions League REUTERS/Phil Noble

(Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah have been short-listed for the UEFA Player of the Year award, the sport's European governing body said on Monday.

Ronaldo, who won the award last season, helped Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League title and finished as the competition's top scorer with 15 goals.

The Portuguese, who has three wins in total, is the only player to have made the shortlist every year since UEFA created the award in 2011.

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Super Cup - Real Madrid Training - Lillekula Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia - August 14, 2018 Real Madrid's Luka Modric during training REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

Modric, also part of Madrid's Champions League winning team, finished runner-up with Croatia at the World Cup, winning the best player award at the tournament in Russia.

Salah scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season, helping the English club reach the Champions League final where they lost to Real Madrid.

VfL Wolfsburg striker Pernille Harder and Olympique Lyonnais forward Ada Hegerberg and defensive midfielder Amandine Henry were short-listed for the women's award.

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v West Ham United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 12, 2018 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Andrew Yates

The awards will be presented at this season's Champions League group-stage draw in Monaco on Aug. 30.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)