Luka Modrić turns 36 years old today. Here are some, but not all, of his lifetime achievements:
-4x Champions League Winner
-2x La Liga Winner
-2018 World Cup Golden Ball
-2018 Ballon d’Or
-World Cup Finalist
-Most capped Croatian player in history (142)
What more can we say about this guy? He has singlehandedly transcended the game of football inside Croatia and set the bar even higher for future generations to challenge. He is already in the conversation of Top 10 ‘Greatest Midfielders Of All Time’ with everything he has done at Real Madrid and the Croatian national team.
Is Luka Modrić the greatest Croatian footballer of all time? The answer is YES.
Grbić is blasting out against FC Lorient today. Saving Lille’s ass, they’re lucky it’s still 1-1.
Beasting out*
Oh yeah?
He probably watched the Slovakia game and saw Ivušić come in and snake his position.
One in a million chance for a #2 keeper to get a chance to win the #1 spot, and unfortunately for Grbić, Dalić didn’t call him up for this round of games.
He’s commented several times that he wants to end his career in Madrid. I think his plan is to stay at Real and retire after the WC. I’m sure he’d be able to keep playing elsewhere but it sounds like he wants to go out while still playing at the top level, like the legend he is.
Obviously depending on health this year
Do you guys think he can go even one more year in Spain??
Why not?! I feel like he’s only had maybe a quad strain, knee sprian, now a groin. The knee kept him out longest. He’s pretty durable and a true pro. Also hasn’t really hinted at retiring on either level. I could see him playing on after Madrid.
He’ll probably be like Ibra.
More than capable of playing until 40 years of age.
I can see both Modric and Ronaldo hitting that 40 mark and still be a top league player.
Ibra and Modric can do it because of their superior Croatian genes, and Ronaldo can keep up because he’s on some insane health regimen (which puts him near a Croat’s superhuman level if he keeps at it really really hard).
Only fair I post this here, too.
https://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2021/09/09/6139ef7222601dfb3f8b4620.html
I still can’t believe any of our modern players could stack up with our 90’s stars like Bokšić, Prosinečki, Boban or Šuker, let alone surpass them in level and longevity.
I also can’t believe that at 37 Modrić will still have a role to play at his final World Cup.
This past week was meaningful on many levels. I have been praying for these boys to step up and lighten the load on Modrić as he ages.
To see players in their prime being responsible for big results and young players running their hearts out was great.
It will allow for Modrić to pick his spots to produce his magic.
@ Slavonac
MANdzukic was a BEAST. I have been posting about him consistently from the beginning of CSR.
I was left mad at Bayern/pep push out then sad at Juve fiasco by Sari and then the Mid East move and failed return to AC Milan.
I thought with his body type that he could play at top level through his mid 30’s.
I hope he continues to support his beloved Slavonci and creates some type of football project up there.
He heart is the reason we exist as a people.
“I still can’t believe any of our modern players could stack up with our 90’s stars like Bokšić, Prosinečki, Boban or Šuker, let alone surpass them in level and longevity.”
You can’t believe that a modern guy (like Modric) can stack up to the 90’s generacija? I think Modric is LEVELS above all those guys at this point, especially when comparing midfielders to midfielders. The only other guy to come close to Modric is Suker, but again, thats not an apples to apples comparison since we’re comparing a forward to a midfielder.
I think what’s harder (especially for me) is trying to compare greats from pre-independence (Beara, Cik, Bajdo are the first to come to mind) to either modern day players or from the 80’s/90’s. I just haven’t seen enough tape on those guys to really formulate a solid opinion.
I love Modric, he’s gone through a lot to get where he is today. Many of us criticized him in his early years and eventually he lived up to his potential…X 10!
Mandzukic recently retired. He has scored and setup some of our most important goals in Croatian history…and not a peep from Croatiansports.com ???
I think someone can at least honor the man that lead us to the World Cup finals and put up some article….or maybe its too late now…but sad it didn’t happen!
He did have a nice own goal in the WC.
Iniesta-Japanese league
Schweinsteiger-MLS
Modrić-Starter for Real Madrid
Goat midfield certified no cap.
Xavi – playing in some desert
Pirlo- MLS
Modrić and Ronaldo will outlast everyone.
Messi will probably end up in Qatar or MLS before Modrić ever does (despite being younger).