OdishaLIVE Bureau
- Modric led his country to a first World Cup final which left the 32 year old mid fielder in tears
- The Croatian midfield maestro had a childhood to forget and faced many difficulties.
When a 32 year old man broke down into tears on the night of July 11, many people found it against sportsmanship in the game but little did they knew about the hardships and the problems that Luka Modric had faced throughout his life.
He was born on 9 September 1985 in a small village near the city of Zadar in SR Croatia. A son of a textile worker and an army man, Modric had a childhood to forget. He was born in a time where war doomed the entire nation. This period was known as the Croatian War of Independence.
In December, 1991 Luka experienced his first major trauma or setback when his grandfather was executed by the Serb Rebels and his house was burned down to ashes. He and his family were forced to flee the area and shift elsewhere. He became a refugee and shifted with his family to a hotel in Zadar.
The place where he lived was cursed by grenades and explosion all the time. In this difficult period of time, young Luka played football in the hotel parking lot and found it as a medium to escape reality. He has always mentioned that his friends and family were always with him and did not let the war affect him and his dreams.
Modric was put into a sporting academy with great struggle as his family had very little money. But his family wanted to make his dream come true and helped him without thinking about the financial situation. He trained in major representative camps in his regions and played major youth tournaments.
He was signed by one of the Country’s biggest club in Dinamo Zagreb in 2001, when he was a 16 year old. He performed brilliantly there and his talent was soon recognised in England. On, 26th April 2008, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. signed him on a permanent deal and Luka was living his dream. To be playing in one of the best leagues in the world and a top club like Spurs was a dream come true for him.After establishing himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier league, on 27th August, 2012 Luka knew he had finally made it. The world’s most greatest and iconic club, Real Madrid had signed him for a fee of 30 million.
The Croatian captain has won numerous titles at Madrid and now is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. Throughout his life, Modric was criticised and told that he wouldn’t make it to the top level and that his dream was just a dream. He was deemed too skinny and light to even play football by many. But, on July 11 he made an entire nation’s dream come true when Croatia were through to the finals.
Luka has showed the entire world that if we believe in ourselves and stop caring about what others say, anyone can make his dream come true. No matter, what you look like, where you come from or what your financial situation is, if you dare to dream and believe in yourself anything is possible.
Story: Raunak Dash Edit: Sidharth Jena
