Luka Modric: Croatia's Football Legend and Global Icon

No Croatian footballer has achieved more in their career than Luka Modric. And few footballers of any nationality have reached Modric's height and made it look so effortless. Luka showed us that it's easy to play. It's, believe me, it's really, really hard to play football. To play World Cup, it's even harder. And he plays like it's normal. It's like a dance for him. Modric's club career is topped by a record equaling six Champions League titles. At international level, he was named the best player at the 2018 World Cup. And as an individual, he was voted the best footballer in the world at the height of the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly. It's a great honor and I am very happy after receiving this great award. I've worked hard to be where I am today. This year has been fantastic. It wasn't just one of the best. It was the best of my life and my career. I have won a lot with Real Madrid. And with Croatia, I reached the World Cup final. And also, I won a lot of individual awards like this one. So this year is just unforgettable. I will remember it forever. Modric is two decades at the top of world football. Belay his challenges getting there. In many ways, he is the embodiment of modern Croatia and the breakdown of the former Yugoslavia. Born in 1985 in a hamlet near the coastal town of Zadar on the Adriatic coast, Modric was named after his grandfather, who looked after him on the family farm, while both his parents worked long hours at a knitting factory. By five, he was helping Luka Sr. tend goats and sheep. But at six, at the height of the Croatian War of Independence, his grandfather was shot and killed by Serbian rebel forces. And the family home was torched. In his autobiography, Modric described his terrible memories. My heart breaks every time I think of my grandfather dying. Literally on his doorstep. For the next seven years, Modric and his family lived in a refugee centre in a hotel in the heart of Zadar. He would spend his days kicking a football in the old hotel car park, frequently running to safety as his town came under attack. Somehow, amongst the carnage, Modric's footballing ability continued to blossom. At 12, he trialled with Hajduk Split, but they rejected him because of his size. Inemo Zagreb eventually took him aged 16, and after a year in the youth team, his extraordinary professional career began. Inemo loaned 18-year-old Modric to Zrinski Mostar, and he ended his first season of senior football with the Bosnian Premier League Player of the Year award. Then they loaned 19-year-old Modric to Inter Zasprecic, where he earned the Croatian Young Player of the Year award. Fully prepared for the top level, Modric then went on to win a hat-trick of titles with Inemo. And a pair of Croatian cups for good measure. He left Croatia for the English Premier League, having just received the first of what would become an absurd 13 Croatian Player of the Year awards. Tottenham Hotspur equalled their transfer record to bring Modric to London. But it looked a questionable decision, as the willowy schemer took time to adapt to the frenetic pace and physicality of English football. But adapt he did, and his reputation grew during four years at White Hart Lane, especially as Spurs began to assert themselves in European competition, catching the eye of Real Madrid in the move that would define his career. At Real, Ronaldo's goal-scoring feats hogged the headlines, and Madridistas adored the leadership of Sergio Ramos. But it was Modric who knitted everything together and made the team tick. In his second season at the Bernabeu, he won the first of six Champions League titles, and was named the best midfielder in La Liga. His consistency and endurance since has seen him elevated to the status of legend, the biggest club in the world. As Modric's star ascended at club level, so did results with the national team. Dictating matches from the middle of the pitch, he was a perfect international captain. Steering Croatia to second place at Russia 2018, then third place at Qatar 2022. I think everybody in the world knows the value of Luka Modric. He's unbelievable. He's our captain, our leader, our best player. We are proud to have him in the team, and for me it's an honor and privilege to play with him, to train with him, to work with him. His exploits in Russia earned him the World Cup golden ball, despite France prevailing in the final. He would later add the Ballon d'Or to his collection, becoming the first player in 11 years to win more votes than either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Slightly built, often underestimated, but supremely skillful and ferociously competitive, Luka Modric is a leader any country would be proud of, and the kind that makes Croatia such a successful football nation.