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From a refugee to a world best player, the success story of Luka Modric
Luka Modric was born into a family of refugees who fled from Serbian aggressors during the Bosnia war.
From a refugee to a world best player, the success story of Luka Moric
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The spotlight of the Best FIFA awards gala of 2018 held on Monday 24th September was on Luka Modric who claimed, the Men’s best player of last season beating off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.
Luka Modric from a humble beginning is now the king of both European and world football.
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Pulse Sports takes a look at his rise to stardom from poverty stricken family.
His mum Radojka Modric was a textile worker and father Stipe Modric, was once a military mechanic who repaired cars for Croatian at war.
From a refugee to a world best player, the success story of Luka Moric
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The beginning of the career of the engine room of both Croatia and Real Madrid midfield was very scrappy. He needed to defy all odds to establish himself as a world class player.
Luka Modrić mostly spent his early years in the house of his paternal grandfather after whom he was named, and was shepherding goats as a five-year-old.
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Modrić's grandfather Luka was executed by Serb rebels who were part of the police of SAO Krajina in December 1991 near his house in Modrići, and after the family fled the house was burned to the ground
As a young boy growing up during the period Croatia saw the need to battle for independence and secede from Yugoslavia, things were very had because the latter were forced to flee from their village to Zadar as refugees.
Modric and his family had to reside in a hotel for seven years.
Luka Modric as a youngster developing as a footballer struggled because of his physique- He was weak and tiny and most people thought that he was never going to grow into becoming a footballer. There was a lot of discrimination against him, so he had to train on his own in front of his family’s hotel room.
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However, he was relentless in his desire to take football as a profession. He used to kick the ball around the packing lot of the hotel where his refugee parents lived and it was there that his football talent was noticed.
“He was skinny and really small for his age, but you could see right away from his age that he had something special in him,” Josip Bajlo the chairman of Zadar said.
Modric’s first trial was at a local club Hadjuk Split, yet he failed to impress due to his attribute.
His breakthrough came at Dynamo Zagreb, where he was given the opportunity to start his professional career. One of the best moment was when he was handed a 10-year deal and that changed the lives of his family. He bought a house and told them to relocate from the hotel, they had lived for years at Zadar.
Dynamo Zagreb loaned him twice, before he established himself on his return from NK Inter Zaprešić in 2004. Luka secured a place in Dinamo's first team, contributing 7 goals in 31 matches to help win the league.
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His impact was well felt in the Croatian league and he became a major target for several European teams such as Arsenal, Barcelona, but he opted to join Tottenham at £16.5 million club record fee when he felt matured enough to ply his trade abroad in the 2008-09.
The midfield dynamo spent four seasons at Tottenham- he played 159 games and scored 17 goals for the London side.
On 27 August, 2012 Real Madrid came knocking at the door of Tottenham for the services of Luka Modric for an approximate £30 million transfer fee.
He had a poor start to his La Liga campaign. He struggled to break into the Madrid starting line-up and was subsequently voted as the worst player in the La Liga.
He rediscovered his form in the Real Madrid midfield, forming good partnership with Khedira, Xabi Alonso in the 2013-14 season, before later formed one of the finest midfield trio in the history of modern game, with Casemiro and Toni Kroos from 2015-16 up to date.
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He has helped Real Madrid win four UEFA Champions League, a league title and a Copa Del Rey title.
Modric’s hard work paid off and he was subsequently handed a place on four consecutive occasions in the FIFPRO FIFA XI
At the Los Blancos he has played 264 games, having registered 13 goals.
Luka Modric made his debut for Croatia senior national football team in 2006. He has represented his country in the 2006, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, in addition to two appearances at the UEFA European Championship- 2008 and 2012.
The former Dynamo Zagreb midfielder has 115 caps for Croatia and he has 14 goals to his credit.
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Honours
Croatian First League: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
Croatian Cup: 2006–07, 2007–08
Croatian Super Cup: 2006
Real Madrid
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La Liga: 2016–17
Copa del Rey: 2013–14
Supercopa de España: 2012, 2017
UEFA Champions League: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
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FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
International
Croatia
FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2018
Individual
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Bosnian Premier League Player of the Year: 2003
Croatian Football Hope of the Year: 2004
HNL’s Footballer of the Year: 2007
Prva HNL Player of the Year: 2007
SN Yellow Shirt Award: 2007–08
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Croatian Footballer of the Year: 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017
Football Oscar for Best Croatian Player: 2013,[301] 2014,[302] 2015,[303] 2016,[304] 2017,[305] 2018
HNS Trophy for Best Croatian Player: 2018
UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 2008
Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Year: 2010–11
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UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2013–14,[113] 2015–16,[141] 2016–17,[153] 2017–18
La Liga's Best Midfielder: 2013–14,[308] 2015–16
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2015,[129] 2016,[144] 2017,[158] 2018
FIFA FIFPro World XI 2nd team: 2014
La Liga's Team of the Season: 2015–16
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UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2015–16
Facebook FA La Liga Best Midfielder: 2016
FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball: 2016
UEFA Team of the Year: 2016,[145] 2017
ESPN Midfielder of the Year: 2016,[313] 2017
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UEFA Midfielder of the Season: 2016–17[155], 2017–18
IFFHS World's Best Playmaker Bronze Award: 2017
IFFHS Men's World Team: 2017
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2017
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2018
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FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2018
FIFA World Cup Fantasy McDonald’s Overall XI: 2018
UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award: 2017–18
The Best FIFA Men's Player: 2018
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