Luka Modric’s journey from the Balkan War to the Bernabéu

As Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane prepares to defend the La Liga title with a youthful squad, he knows that he has a couple of old warhorses at his disposal that he can count on to guide his younger players.

There’s Sergio Ramos, the club captain, and there’s striker Karim Benzema, all set for his eleventh season at the club. Then there’s the midfield maestro Luka Modric.

Modric may still look like the gangly youngster who grabbed everyone’s attention at Tottenham Hotspur more than a decade ago, but he’s a grizzled veteran now. It has been eight years since he first wore the Madrid whites and his time in the Spanish capital has punctuated with accolades.

For the boy who once fled his native village in war-torn Yugoslavia with nothing but the clothes on his back, the road to being an icon at the Bernabéu has been quite eventful.

Luisito 44 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

The Balkan Wars that tore Yugoslavia apart also tore Modric’s childhood apart. Serbian rebels gunned down his grandfather while Modric and his parents had to take refuge in a Zagreb hotel.

It is an oft-repeated tale that, with bombs and gunshots ringing loud around him, a young Modric used to sleep with a football tucked between his arms for reassurance.

From the parking lot of that hotel, Modric progressed through Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham Hotspur, where his displays had the entire football world sit up and take notice.

His four seasons in London saw him score thirteen times in the Premier League and notch up fifteen assists.

By Ronnie Macdonald - originally posted to Flickr as Arsenal attack! 6, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15601561

Upon moving to Real Madrid in 2012, he began collecting trophies for fun. With him in their engine room, Madrid racked up four Champions League crowns. And Modric was no passenger — he made the team of the season in each of those campaigns.

During their best seasons, he was vital to Real’s cause. As they tried to shoehorn in several attacking players, Modric would stay back deep in the midfield, orchestrating the game from there and facilitating the transition from defense to attack.

It was his willingness to develop this side of his game that arguably gave Real a balance.

And once he became a veteran, he allowed a number of younger players to grow under his wing, from Isco and Casemiro to Real’s latest sensation Federico Valverde.

By Светлана Бекетова - https://www.soccer.ru/galery/1055463/photo/733648, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70279386

Then came a memorable 2018 World Cup, where he led unfancied Croatia to the final. That brought him the FIFA men’s player of the year gong and acclaim from all quarters.

Arguably the most memorable of those came from Argentinean legend Jorge Valdano, who described Modric as a ‘miracle worker who reminds us that space and time exists.’

Modric’s journey from refugee to legend of the game is truly inspirational and a reminder that anything is possible with talent and hard work.