MODRIĆI: The burned-out shell of a remote cottage bears testimony to the trauma that Luka Modrić lived through long before he became a Croatian national hero and Real Madrid star.
Hidden in the folds of the Velebit mountains, with the nearest neighbours several kilometres away, trees now grow inside the roofless ruin where Modrić spent part of his childhood.
The player’s grandfather, also named Luka, lived in the house, lying on a mountain road winding through the village of Modrići.
Modrić, born in 1985, spent his early years there and in the nearby village of Zaton Obrovački until the 1990s Croatian War of Independence broke out.
His grandfather was killed in the war, the house was burned, and the family fled to the coastal town of Zadar, some 40 kilometres away.
“I heard about a little hyperactive boy constantly playing with a football in the corridor of a refugee hotel, even going to sleep with it,” said Josip Bajlo, who was then the first-team coach at the Croatian First Football League club NK Zadar, where Modrić began to make a name for himself as a brilliant player.
As soon as Bajlo saw Modrić play, he signed him up for the club’s football school, where he immediately stood out.
“He was an idol to his generation, a leader, a favourite.”
“Already, children saw in him then what we are all seeing in him now in football terms,” Bajlo said.
The 1991-1995 war, during which Zadar and the surrounding region were heavily shelled, toughened Modrić, according to those close to him.
“It happened a million times that we were going to training as the shells were falling, and we were running to shelters,” said childhood friend Marijan Buljat, who trained and played with Modrić while growing up.
The 36-year-old, himself a professional footballer, remained close to Modrić over the years and believes that such a hard background contributed to the Croatia captain’s character and mental strength.
“It is certainly one of the factors that contributed… that drove him to become one of the best in the world.”
Last October, Modrić was named for the third time in the FIFA FIFPro team selected by thousands of professional players. In 2015, he became the first Croatian voted on to the FIFPro XI.
His former club NK Zadar, now fallen on hard times in the Croatian Third Football League, have a history of finding talent, but Modrić stands alone as a legend among fans.
Modrić left for Dinamo Zagreb in 2000 and then joined English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.
After a bidding war, he was snapped up by Real Madrid in 2012.
But his popularity in Croatia and his image as a modest family man was tarnished by his testimony last year during the multi-million-euro corruption trial of former Dinamo Zagreb executive director Zdravko Mamić.
Modrić’s testimony supported Mamić’s case against allegations of corruption, angering many fans who saw the trial as a chance to clean up the corruption-ridden sport.
Prosecutors eventually charged Modrić in March for giving false evidence, an offense that carries a penalty of up to five years in jail. But the indictment has yet to be approved by a court and the player is currently not threatened with arrest.
Anger among fans over the case lifted swiftly after Modrić’s brilliant performance in qualifying for the World Cup.
But some fans, as well as coach Zlatko Dalić, worry that the issue could damage his performances in Russia.