Modric is the man for Croatia Childhood as refugee failed to hamper his rise to top

CHILDHOOD AS REFUGEE FAILED TO DETER HIS DREAMS

Luka Modric, the Real Madrid midfielder and pin-up of Croatian football, suffered a tumultuous upbringing all too familiar for the current crop of Eastern European players. He was born in 1985 in Zadar, Yugoslavia, just before the breakout of the Croatian War of Independence and in 1991 his family fled the area.

Modric was a refugee for seven years and he used football to escape the horrors around him. Supported by his family, he found his way to a sporting academy and was signed by Dinamo Zagreb in 2002 after being spotted while playing for his hometown team of NK Zadar. as a 16-year-old. He rose to prominence the following year while on loan at Zrinjski Mostar in the Bosnian Premier League, honing his versatile skills while going on to win the league’s Player of the Year award while only 18.

A short stint back in the Croatian league followed before he returned to Dinamo in 2005, signing an impressively long 10-year contract. It was clear the club knew he would not be around for long given his talents and wanted to make sure they capitalised on any transfer when a bigger club came calling. He was reportedly admired by Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in 2007, just after he made his major international tournament debut for Croatia at the 2006 World Cup, coming on twice as a substitute.

The lure for bigger things was too hard to resist when Tottenham Hotspur came calling in 2008. A knee-injury hampered his early career at Spurs, but it was not long before his talents shone through when he was moved to a left-midfield role. He was also an established Croatian international by this time and ‘the Croatian Cruyff’ was Man of the Match in victory over tournament favourites Germany. While not always scoring in consequent tournaments at Euro 2012, the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, his versatility meant he was an ever present in the team when not battling a recurring foot injury.

His rise to fame in London and for the national side did not go unnoticed and in 2012, he moved to Real Madrid, truly announcing his arrival as one of the best players on the planet, picking up domestic and continental trophies by the armful. He also became the first Croatian to score at the finals of two separate European Championship in 2016 and it is clear he is the one all of Croatia will look to in Russia.