MODRIC THE MAGICIAN
The Croatia star with a perjury charge hanging over him is the biggest threat to England’s World Cup final hopes
THE little playmaker who most threatens England’s World Cup final ambitions in Moscow tonight was introduced to big-time European football almost by accident.
Tottenham scout Eddie Presland flew to Zagreb in 2007 to watch a promising Brazilian-born striker called Eduardo. On his arrival Presland was told Arsenal had beaten him to it and he was instead drawn to the scrawny young figure playing in the heart of Dinamo’s midfield — Luka Modric.
Ultimately, Presland went back three times to watch Modric before — aware of growing interest from Newcastle — Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy flew by private jet to Croatia to sign him in the summer of 2008.
Some at Tottenham were not sure. ‘He was lightweight and looked tiny next to some of the athletes who played in the Premier League,’ said a Tottenham source. ‘Not all of us were convinced. But have we made a better signing in the modern era? If we have, there haven’t been many.’
At Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground out near the airport, they still think Modric looks a bit small. But nobody jokes about it any more.
Cristiano Ronaldo — now on his way to Juventus — Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos may have attracted more attention but nobody has the respect of that famously flammable dressing room more than the guy who will captain Croatia in the Luzhniki Stadium tonight.
‘He is like Raul,’ said former Real and Croatia defender Robert Jarni. ‘He leads with his football and his effort. He doesn’t need to shout or make a big show.’
Modric has worked hard on his physique since leaving Spurs for Madrid for £30million in 2012. He even paid for his own personal trainer and at Valdebebas he is known for the out- of-proportion calf muscles that resemble those of the great Brazilian full back Roberto Carlos. He is, as a result, incredibly hard to knock of the ball. Tonight in Moscow, everything Croatia do with the ball will pass through Modric. In the quarter-final against Russia in the heat of Sochi on Saturday, Modric grew in stature as the battle went into extra time. As others wilted Modric grew stronger.
Fiercely competitive and a bad loser, Modric said in a rare recent interview: ‘I never relax because if you relax in football your level drops and it can be difficult to get back into it. I will be like that until the day I retire.
‘ I think a lot of things that happened to me as a child in Croatia have left me feeling like I should never ease up.’
Modric’s relationship with his country is complicated, even though it never seems so on the field. The 32-year-old does not discuss the Balkan conflict but it is thought his grandfather was killed in the war. Modric and his parents lived in a series of hostels in the town of Zadar at one point before finding a permanent home.
Josip Bajlo, president of his first club NK Zadar, says he remembers a kid kicking a ball against a wall of a hostel car park, and current team-mate for club and country Mateo Kovacic has described Modric as the ‘greatest player in our history’. That is some claim, given that the deeds of the famous 1998 side of Slaven Bilic and Davor Suker constantly stalk the current generation.
At home, meanwhile, rests some controversy. Modric has been criticised for seemingly retracting a statement he gave before the trial of former Dinamo chief executive Zdravko Mamic. Mamic has been found guilty of fraud relating to transfers, including Modric’s move to Tottenham 10 years ago.
Modric, though, appeared on TV during the trial seemingly backtracking on previous evidence. He has subsequently been charged with perjury by the Croatian authorities and — among other things — one of the hostels he lived in as a child has been daubed with anti-Modric graffiti.
So all this helps to form a complicated background to tonight’s match. The Croats are a tight-knit bunch driven by a sense of being patronised by bigger and more established nations.
Asked after the Russia game if Modric should be considered a Ballon D’Or contender, defender Vedran Corluka said: ‘They would never award that to a player from a small nation like ours. Forget it.’
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has spoken during this tournament of the squad’s desire to achieve something for Modric, who is probably playing in his last World Cup.
Despite the presence in the Croatia squad of a man like Andrej Kramaric, a fierce and outspoken critic of the shamed Mamic, there appear to be no cracks in what this talented group of players are trying to achieve on the field.
For Modric himself there is no lack of motivation ahead of the game with England.
Having blocked a potential move to Manchester United in 2011, Tottenham chairman Levy did his best to warn Real away from his star asset a year later. Levy eventually caved in and Modric got the move he wanted.
He has not forgotten, though. So upset was he with the way things were handled that he immediately changed his number when he arrived in Spain and his relationship with the club and the country that really announced him on the international stage has never recovered.
History, pride, frustration and a long memory. All will drove Modric on against England. And already in this tournament, it has proved quite a combination.