#8 He was named in FARE’s ‘Euro 2016 Refugee XI’
Modric is of course not alone in having flourished through adversity and difficulty to become one of the greatest midfielders in world football.
Last year, the anti-discrimination football network known as ‘FARE’ put together a line-up of players who were formerly refugees to celebrate ‘World Refugee Day’. The team also included the likes of brothers Granit and Taulant Xhaka, Christian Benteke and Xherdan Shaqiri.
#9 He idolised Ronaldo from a young age
It is not for current team-mate CR7 that Modric has a particular soft spot, but rather the Brazilian namesake. The Croatian claimed that growing up, his “first pair of shin pads had a picture of Ronaldo on them.”
“They were these Nike ones and I loved them. I loved Ronaldo. The real Ronaldo! And I wore those shinpads for years. From when I was a little kid right up to when I started playing professionally in the Bosnian League. Ronaldo had lots of scars before I eventually gave them to someone as a present.”
Perhaps it’s from the Brazilian Ronaldo that Modric learned how to sharpen the attacking prowess he now possesses.
#10 It was a rough start at the Santiago Bernabeu
When Luka Modric made the multi-million-pound transition from North London to the Spanish capital, a lot was expected from the Croatian. Unfortunately, the prognosticated success did not come to fruition as soon as the Blancos would have hoped.
In December 2012, Modric was officially named as Real Madrid’s biggest flop signing for that season and a small portion of fans wanted the Croatian to be shown the exit door. His game time was limited as a result of missing pre-season training due to negotiations regarding his transfer taking up time and the fact that Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira had established themselves at the heart of Los Blancos’ midfield.
#11 His physique nearly let him down
"There was this boy who used to kick the ball around the hotel parking lot all day,” were the words of NK Zadar chairman Josip Bajlo when commenting on Modric in his early days. "He was skinny and really small for his age, but you could see right away that he had that something special in him.”
Since then Modric has only grown to 5’9” but there’s an advantage to such a small frame, the Croatian possesses the agility and low centre of gravity aiding him in eluding opponents.
Bajlo continued, “However, none of us could have dreamed that one day he would grow to become the player he is now."
It just goes to show once again that a player cannot be judged merely on their physique.
