HISTORY : IFFHS AWARDS - LUKA MODRIC (CROATIA/REAL MADRID CF) 2018
IFFHS AWARDS : THE WORLD’S BEST PLAYMAKER 2018 – LUKA MODRIC (CROATIA/REAL MADRID CF)
PRESENTATION
Luka Modric, born 9 September 1985 in Zadar, is currently the captain of the Croatia National Team and one of the playmakers at Real Madrid CF. He lived his consecration in 2018 when he won all individual World Awards : the BALLON D’OR, the Best FIFA Player, the IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker, the UEFA Player, the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball ! He is widely regarded as one of the best World midfielders in this decade and the greatest Croatian footballer of all-time !
He learned football in his native town, Zadar, before going to Dinamo Zagreb’s youth at 15. He continued his progression there and signed his first professional contract in 2003. He was loaned two years to Mostar and Zapresic, and made his debut with Dinamo Zagreb in 2005. In 3 years, he played 128 games (32 goals) and won 3 Croatian First League titles (2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08), two Croatian Cups (2006/07, 2007/08) and one Croatian Super Cup (2006) !
Crowned Croatian Footballer of the year in 2007 and 2008, he interested Tottenham Hotspurs in England where he moved in 2008. He stayed four seasons in Tottenham, playing 159 matches (17 goals) and was crowned Tottenham Player of the year 2010/11. He led Tottenham to their first UEFA Champions League appearance in 50 years.
In 2012, Luka Modric joined Real Madrid in Spain, becoming the Playmaker of the team very quickly. He won La Decima, the tenth UEFA Champions League for Real Madrid in 2013/14 and when Zidane took over Real, Modric won 3 consecutive UEFA Champions League (2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18) ! He won also La Liga title (2016/17, one Copa de Rey (2013/14), 3 Supercopa de Espana (2012, 2017, 2020), 3 UEFA Super Cups (2014, 2016, 2017) and 4 FIFA Club World Cups (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018). Until now, Modric played 333 matches (22 goals) with Real Madrid.
He made his international debut with Croatia in March 2006 against Argentina. Since he played 127 international matches (16 goals), participated at all great events , UEFA Euro (2008, 2012, 2016) and FIFA World Cups (2006, 2014, 2018). In 2018, Modric led Croatia to the FIFA World Cup Final in Moscow, where his team lost against France but finished at the second place of the 2018 World Cup. This same year 2018, he won also with Real the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup ! He was crowned the WORLD PLAYER of this year by all World Federations FIFA, IFFHS) and appeared in all Dream Teams (FIFA, IFFHS, UEFA), winning also seven times the award of the Best Croatian Player.