Captain Modric -

Vedran Corluka was deep into his umpteenth interview of the night when the Croatia defender was asked if Luka Modric, his country’s captain and conductor, might have a chance of winning the Ballon d’Or this year.

‘‘We are too small a country for Fifa or Uefa to consider a player from our country to be the best player in the world,’’ Corluka replied, bluntly.

A little earlier, Modric himself had been asked the same question. ‘‘I’m not thinking about the Ballon d’Or. Croatia’s success is much more important to me than that,’’ he said.

If Modric helps to inspire Croatia to glory at this World Cup, only seven weeks after claiming a fourth European Cup in five seasons with Real Madrid, there are unlikely to be too many players more worthy of the accolade, just as there would be few more popular winners.

There would certainly be profound appeal in one of the game’s ultimate team players – and the antithesis of some of today’s narcissistic footballers – winning the award but, for 90 minutes or however long it takes in Moscow, England fans will hope Modric has an off night.

That does not happen very often, however, and, as Russia discovered to their cost on another breathless evening in Sochi at the weekend, Modric’s fallow periods in matches tend to be fleeting.