October 31, 2021 - The Real Madrid captain armband was worn by a Croatian footballer for the first time in history on Saturday, and it's no surprise that Croatia captain Luka Modrić had the honor.
In the Real Madrid victory against Elche (2:1), Luka Modić had the honor of wearing the captain's armband of one of the biggest clubs in the world. The Croatia captain also wore it for the first time in his career, reports Index.hr.
Real returned to the top of the table with their victory in this match, and the hero was Vinicius Junior, who scored both goals. He scored first in the 22nd minute, after an assist by Diaz, and then shook the net after Modrić's assist in the 73rd minute.
The home side played with a man down from the 63rd minute after Guti received a second yellow card but again scored in the 86th minute. The shooter was Milla, but Elche couldn't do more than that.
Modrić left the pitch in the 84th minute when Camavinga replaced him. The Croatian midfielder was wearing the captain's armband of the great Real at that moment, taking it in the 65th minute when Marcelo was subbed off, and then handed it over to Carvajal when he walked off.
So far, six Croats have played for Real Madrid. Apart from Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Robert Prosinečki, Robert Jarni, Igor Jovićević and Davor Šuker played for the royal club.
Modrić has played 401 games for Real and is currently 20th on the list of players with the most appearances for the Madrid team, with whom he was twice champion of Spain and four times champion of Europe.
"Modrić just keeps on going with Real Madrid. The Croatian played his 400th Real Madrid game in the Clasico victory at Camp Nou. The midfielder has racked up 261 wins and scored 28 goals during that time. He has won everything in his 10 seasons with the team: 4 Champions League titles, 4 Club World Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 2 LaLiga titles, 1 Copa del Rey and 3 Spanish Super Cups.
Modrić's games for Real Madrid have come in six competitions: 272 in LaLiga, 89 in the Champions League, 22 in the Copa del Rey, 7 in the Spanish Super Cup, 6 in the Club World Cup and 4 in the European Super Cup. His highest number of appearances in one campaign was in the 2012/13 season, with 53," wrote Real Madrid on its website last week.
"It's incredible, I'm very proud to have played 400 games for Real Madrid. I'm very happy and very proud. I hope to keep playing more games and to see how many more games I can play," said Modrić on his achievement.
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