00:08No Croatian footballer has achieved more in their career than Luka Modric and few
00:15footballers of any nationality have reached Modric's heights and made it
00:19look so effortless. Luka show was that it's easy to play it's believe me it's
00:27really really hard to play football to play World Cup it's even harder and he
00:33plays like it's it's normal it's it's like a dance for him. Modric's club
00:41career is topped by a record equaling six Champions League titles. At
00:46international level he was named the best player at the 2018 World Cup and as an
00:51individual he was voted the best footballer in the world at the height of
00:56Delino Messi Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly. It's a great honor and I am very happy
01:06after receiving this great award I've worked hard to be where I am today this
01:12year has been fantastic it wasn't just one of the best it was the best of my
01:17life and my career. I have won a lot with Real Madrid and with Croatia I reached the
01:26World Cup final and also I won a lot of individual awards like this one so this
01:33year is just unforgettable I will remember it forever. Modric is two decades at the
01:45top of world football belie his challenges getting there. In many ways he is the
01:50embodiment of modern Croatia and the breakdown of the former Yugoslavia. Born in
01:591985 in a hamlet near the coastal town of Zadar on the Adriatic coast Modric was
02:05named after his grandfather who looked after him on the family farm while both
02:10his parents worked long hours at a knitting factory. By five he was helping
02:18Lucasenia tend goats and sheep but at six at the height of the Croatian War of
02:24Independence his grandfather was shot and killed by Serbian rebel forces and the
02:30family home was torched. In his autobiography Modric described his terrible
02:36memories. My heart breaks every time I think of my grandfather dying literally on
02:43his doorstep. For the next seven years Modric and his family lived in a refugee
02:50center in a hotel in the heart of Zadar. He would
02:56spend his days kicking a football in the old hotel car park frequently running to
03:01safety as his town came under attack. Somehow amongst the carnage Modric's
03:11footballing ability continued to blossom. At 12 he trialed with Hajduk Split but they
03:19rejected him because of his size.
03:24Dinamar Zagreb eventually took him aged 16 and after a year in the youth team his
03:29extraordinary professional career began.
03:35Dinamar loaned 18 year old Modric to Zrinski Mostar and he ended his first season of
03:42senior football with a Bosnian Premier League Player of the Year award.
03:49Then they loaned 19 year old Modric to Inter Zaspersic where he earned the Croatian Young Player of the Year
03:56award.
03:59Fully prepared for the top level Modric then went on to win a hat-trick of titles with Dinamar and
04:05a pair of Croatian Cups for good measure.
04:08He left Croatia for the English Premier League having just received the first of what would become an absurd 13
04:15Croatian Player of the Year awards.
04:20Tottenham Hotspur equalled their transfer record to bring Modric to London.
04:25But it looked a questionable decision as the willowy schemer took time to adapt to the frenetic pace and physicality
04:32of English football.
04:36But to adapt he did and his reputation grew during four years at White Hart Lane.
04:42Especially as Spurs began to assert themselves in European competition.
04:46Catching the eye of Real Madrid in the move that would define his career.
04:54At Real, Ronaldo's goal scoring feats hogged the headlines and Madridistas adored the leadership of Sergio Ramos.
05:02But it was Modric who knitted everything together and made the team tick.
05:09In his second season at the Benebao he won the first of six Champions League titles.
05:14And was named the best midfielder in La Liga.
05:17His consistency and endurance since has seen him elevated to the status of legend, the biggest club in the world.
05:28As Modric's star ascended at club level, so did results with the national team.
05:33Dictating matches from the middle of the pitch, he was a perfect international captain.
05:38Steering Croatia to second place at Russia 2018, then third place at Qatar 2022.
05:45I think everybody in the world knows the value of Luka Modric.
05:52He's unbelievable.
05:57He's our captain, our leader, our best player.
06:00We are proud to have him in the team and for me it's an honour and privilege to play with
06:05him, to train with him, to work with him.
06:11His exploits in Russia earned him the World Cup golden ball, despite France prevailing in the final.
06:21He would later add the Ballon d'Or to his collection, becoming the first player in 11 years to win
06:26more votes than either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
06:33Slightly built, often underestimated, but supremely skilful and ferociously competitive, Luka Modric is a leader any country would be proud
06:43of.
06:43And the kind that makes Croatia such a successful football nation.
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