Luka Modric is a Croatian International who was born on September 9, 1985 in Zadar, Croatia. His primary position is the Central Midfield being deployed as a Deep Lying Playmaker and he has also played in various roles, the Defensive Midfield even sometimes as an Attacking Midfielder. He currently plies his trade at Real Madrid CF and helped them win the UEFA Champions League 4 times, the La Liga twice and 1 Copa Del Rey. He can play with both of his legs with the same efficiency who stands at 1.72m. As for his stats, his total count stands at 63 goals and 103 assists out of 594 matches in his club career.
Born during one of the toughest times of the country, Luka Modric’s family was displaced when he was young. He signed for Dinamo Zagreb in 2002, after being for some time with NK Zadar, his hometown club. He continued his development in Zagreb, before spells of loans at Zrinjski Mostar and Inter Zaprešić. He made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb back in 2005 and won three consecutive league titles and domestic cups with them. He was also named the Prva HNL Player of the Year in 2007. In 2008, he took his chance and moved to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for a then club-record transfer fee of £16.5 million. His brilliance led Spurs to their first UEFA Champions League appearance in almost 5 decades, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2010–11 edition.
In 2012, Modric joined La Liga giants Real Madrid CF for a fee of 30m euros. He helped them win the La Decima and was also selected for the CL team of the season back in 2013/14, before achieving that feat another 3 times in the Champion’s Leagues he won. He has won 17 major trophies at Real Madrid.
Talking about his individual accolades, he won the La Liga Award for "Best Midfielder" in 2016 for the second time, and the UEFA Club Football Award for "Best Midfielder" in 2017 and 2018. In 2015, he became the first Croatian player to be included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI, in which he was regularly included until 2019, as well in the UEFA Team of the Year between 2016 and 2018. In 2018, Modrić became the first Croatian player to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and by winning The Best FIFA Men's Player and Ballon d'Or awards, he became the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the awards in more than a decade.
In the country kits, Modric made his debut against Argentina in 2006. He has since anchored Croatia's "Second Golden Generation", the first one being headed by Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Jarni etc from 1994-1999. Luka Modric has been a part of major International tournaments, Croatia has been a part of since his debut, before guiding his team to the FIFA World Cup 2018 and winning the Golden Ball. He has also been named the Croatian Footballer of the Year a record eight times between 2007–2019.
Some Facts about the Maestro:
1) Luka Modric is married to Vankja Bosnic and is blessed with two children, Ivano and Emma Modric
2) His favourite footballers are Brad Guzan, Oscar and Alex Song.
3) He was born in a village called ‘Modrici’, where he went shepherding when he was young.
4) Luka Modric’s considerable part of the childhood was spent in hotels in Zatar, due to the Civil War and he started playing football in the parking lots.
Let’s take a look at Luka’s best performances
