Luka Modric has taken an extraordinary path to the World Cup final – from fleeing his home as a child during Croatia’s war of independence to global superstar status.

Croatia’s captain has also overcome the challenge of a relatively fragile physique to become one of the world’s best players. Misfortune and dismissal cursed the long early stretches of Luka Modric as his family persevered through horrible enduring when the Balkan war ejected in 1991 and his town became broken by Serbian soldiers.

When Modric’s granddad was killed while rearing his goats, the family moved to close Zadar, where they resided as exiles.  The youthful Modric was habitually taking a chance with his life by playing football with his companions on the roads.

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Outfitted with insignificant physicality and a body that could be pushed away by a solid breeze, he would need to compensate for his insufficiencies with his most valuable gift – ball control. Indeed, even from early on, spectators would wonder about his smooth and exact touch. It was something not typically seen from such an amateur, enamouring the minds of many.

Zagreb had the chance and option to facilitate to sign Luka and proceeded to go through the accompanying season with the club’s childhood side. The club accepted that for Modrić to arrive at his maximum capacity, he would not just need to proceed in his improvement, but intellectually too.

Furthermore, in the mid-year of 2003, the club settled on the choice to loan him out to the Bosnian League. At that point, the league was generally viewed as the most fierce and dangerous in the world.

Instead of faltering, Modrić flourished, fostering his inventive greatness and taking advantage of a psychological strength that he didn’t know existed. He was named the player of the year and had left the entirety of his cynics quiet.
Tottenham dominated the race for the Croatian in 2008, paying a then club record-equaling $22m or £16.5m for his services. At first, he struggled to adjust to the speed of the Premier League amid fears his height would neutralize him.

He would later become extraordinary and was even compared to other players to play for the team. His performance earned him a move to Real Madrid. There, he turned into the best player on the planet as his ability was a generational one.

A career that would eventually take him to four Champions League wins with Real Madrid via Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and Croatia’s biggest club Dinamo Zagreb, began on the Adriatic coast in Zadar, where Modric took refuge from Serbian forces.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – JULY 15: Luka Modric of Croatia and Kylian Mbappe of France pose respectively with their the adidas Golden Ball and with the FIFA Young Player award following the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 15, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Modric has shown his physical strength in leading Croatia through three periods of extra-time against Denmark, Russia and England to become the smallest country in 68 years to reach a World Cup final.

Simple statistics won’t ever disclose to you the full story of exactly how great this generational player really is. He is the quieted modeler consistently in the perfect spot at the perfect time, even though if he isn’t conveying assists, he is clearly giving the assists for the assists.
Luka Modric is the child of a goat herder. He was an offspring of war, an exile, whose granddad was killed. He is a kid who wore wooden shin-pads, playing on the roads with fears of projectiles and bombs and consistently had a great ball at his feet.

For many years an under-appreciated factor in Madrid’s success due to the goals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Modric has now also emerged as a strong contender to break the decade-long grip Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have had on the Ballon d’Or.

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said earlier in the tournament that Modric may already have been crowned the world’s best player if he had been Spanish or German. In characteristically self-effacing style, Modric said he had no interest in individual prizes when the World Cup is at stake.

His journey took him from Zadar to Madrid, turning him into the best player on the planet. He is conclusive evidence that magicians can come in all shapes, sizes and from any place on the planet.