Magic Mod has rocked this tournament and deserves to rule the world
LUKA MODRIC was probably a little off the mark in his postmatch interviews when he accused English pundits and the English media of being arrogant.
Maybe he only had Rio Ferdinand in mind, the former Manchester United man having said he was ‘ridiculously confident’ England would not only advance to the final but would win the tournament.
“I think we can blow these away,” Ferdinand had written. “My prediction would be a 3-0 victory for England.
“Get excited because I think we are going to win the World Cup.”
You can see why Modric might define that as arrogance – although if he knows Ferdinand, he would probably be aware it was merely overexcitement.
Being in a World Cup bubble for a month can send you a little bit doolally.
I also thought England would beat Croatia and go on to win the tournament.
And if you want further evidence of how being embedded here can cloud
judgement, here was Ferdi- nand on Modric and a couple of his team-mates.
“People will point to Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic. But I’m not worried about the extra experience Croatia have – yeah, they might have a few more caps but none of them have won a World Cup or been in a World Cup final. It’s a level playing field.”
Only it was not a level playing field. Nothing to do with experience and number of caps but it was not a level playing field because Croatia fielded two world-class midfielders and England fielded none.
Modric ended up running the show against a midfield marshalled by Jordan Henderson, exactly as he had done for Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Even if he fails to inspire a Croatian victory over France in Moscow today, Modric should end the duopoly of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the Ballon D’Or this year. He really has been that sensational. Modric is tireless, for a start. Again, it was widely assumed Modric and some of his experienced team-mates would tire against a youthful England side. That was not the case and Modric has covered the most distance of any player at this World Cup. His 63km, by the way, is only just ahead of the 62.9km clocked up by his team mate Rakitic. Modric has played more minutes than anyone else but, none the less, his indefatigability is obvious. Modric has also created 16 chances, which comes in fourth on the list, and, with 30 of them, has taken the highest number of accurate free-kicks. But statistics cannot do justice to Modric’s influence on this Croatian team.
Their talisman, he orchestrates their entire game, diligently carries out his defensive duties and also offers a goal threat.
At five foot six and scrawny, he is the best midfielder in the world and his battles with N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba will go a long way to determining the destination of the 2018 World Cup.
If it goes to Croatia, it will cap a life story for Modric that is a familiar one in his homeland.
His grandfather was killed during the war of independence and Modric, as a six-year-old, was forced to flee his village and live in a ramshackle hotel, practising his football in a parking lot in between dashes to a grenade shelter.
He has defied the odds in more ways than one.
Croatia were not overly gracious in victory the other day but if they manage to upset France on the grandest stage, there will be no more deserving a World Cup winner than the marvellous Modric.