October 3, 2021 - The latest on the Luka Modrić Real Madrid contract extension as Marca reports the Croatia captain could stay at the royal club beyond 2022.

Gol.hr reports that Croatia captain Luka Modrić signed with Real until 2022. However, Spanish sports daily Marca wrote in the text entitled "Luka Modrić: To Infinity and Beyond" that he could stay at the club after the summer of 2022, i.e., extend his contract for another year when his current contract expires.

"Modrić agreed to a lower salary as he realized his dream and ended his career at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner plans to play for another two or three years and is still a key player at Real although his replacements Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camaving are ready," writes Marca. 

"He is physically in better shape than in previous years. Last year he was fantastic with 48 games played, and that is why Real is planning to fulfill his dream and allow him to conclude his career with a contract until the summer of 2023. There are no official negotiations yet, but the club is open to that idea."

If Modrić succeeds, it will be good news for Croatia because the captain will not have to look for a new club for the last season of his playing career and appearance at the World Cup in Qatar. Recall that the World Cup will be played in the winter of 2022, and since Luka has a valid contract until the summer of next year, he would have to sign with another club for a year if he leaves Madrid, all to be in shape for Croatia in Qatar.

If he signs a new contract with Real, he will end his career in Madrid and be ready for the World Cup there.

He would also get the honor Zidane received last - playing his final official match in a Real Madrid jersey.

This honor was not given to many legends like Sergio Ramos, Raul, or Iker Casillas, who had to conclude their famous careers elsewhere. The last to do so was the legendary Zizou, though the Croatia national team captain could follow in his footsteps.

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March 27, 2021 - Croatia has a new record holder for the most national team caps in history. TCN's Daniela Rogulj and Jose Alfonso Cussianovich look at the Croatia moments that defined Luka Modrić. 

Luka Modrić began his national team career on March 1, 2006. Fifteen years later, he leads the Vatreni at the opening of another qualification cycle, this time for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

During this March qualification campaign, the Vatreni captain entered Croatian football history for appearances in the national team jersey. After equaling the legendary former Croatia captain Darijo Srna's national team caps on Wednesday, Luka Modrić is now the record holder with 135 national team appearances. 

Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos have more appearances of active players from European national teams. 

As in previous anniversaries, Luka could not celebrate his achievement on Wednesday after Croatia's loss to Slovenia in Ljubljana. You might recall that in his 50th match for the national team, Croatia lost 2-0 to Greece during the Euro 2012 qualifiers, and to mark his 100th capp, Croatia played 1-1 with Finland in Rijeka, a shocker that seriously hurt their chances of going to the World Cup in Russia at all. As if the result wasn't bad enough, the dismissal of coach Ante Čačić overshadowed what should have been a monumental moment for the Croatian footballer. 

We hope that Luka becomes the most-capped Croatia player with a win against Cyprus tonight. 

Croatia national team debut

On March 1, 2006, Luka Modrić debuted for the Croatia national football team. He was included in the team by the then coach Zlatko Kranjčar, who died in Zagreb on Luka's 15th-anniversary with Croatia, on March 1, 2021, at the age of 65.

As part of preparations for the World Cup in Germany, Kranjčar gave Modrić a chance in a friendly match against Argentina at St Jakob Park in Basel. Croatia celebrated 3-2. That match is also special because Lionel Messi scored his first goal for Argentina. 

Croatia took the lead in the third minute with a goal by Ivan Klasnić, but Argentina turned it around with two quick goals by Carlos Tevez (4) and Lionel Messi (6). Darijo Srna equalized in the 52nd minute, and Dario Šimić brought Croatia to victory in the 90th minute. Modrić played until the 84th minute. 

"The Dinamo Zagreb starlet was making his first senior appearance in the absence of the injured Robert Kovac and rewarded coach Kranjcar's faith in him with a fine display in the centre of midfield alongside Niko Kranjcar and Niko Kovac. Indeed Modric's performance prompted Kranjcar to muse that his team had not only won a game that night but also "won a player," FIFA wrote about Luka after the match. 

Euros 2008

After two appearances at the 2006 World Cup against Japan and Australia and a stellar run with club Dinamo Zagreb, Luka was given the confidence of new Croatia coach Slaven Bilić. Luka scored his first international goal one month after the 2006 World Cup in a friendly against Italy. 

A regular for Croatia in the games that followed and a standout player during Croatia's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, the expectations of the Croatian midfielder were high -  and rightfully so. The promising midfielder continued to impress at the 2008 Euros and began writing history even then. Modrić not only scored Croatia's first goal of the tournament, but it was the quickest penalty ever called and scored in Euros history. 

Luka's magnificent performance throughout the tournament earned him UEFA Man of the Match in their following game against Germany. While Croatia's European campaign ended after losing the quarter-final penalty shootout to Turkey (and Luka missed), he was the second-ever Croatian to be included in the UEFA Team of the Tournament after Davor Šuker. 

Croatia captain band 

After veteran defender Darijo Srna retired from international football with an emotional letter following the 2016 Euros, Luka Modrić was named his successor by then-coach Ante Čačić.

"The new captain will be Luka Modrić, and our two vice-captains are Vedran Corluka and Ivan Rakitić," Čačić said at a press conference before Croatia kicked off their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign against Turkey on September 5, 2016.

Modrić captained Croatia only twice before then, the first time in an away draw against Azerbaijan.

HNS

"It's a nice feeling, I'm proud. Thank you to the coach for the trust, and I hope to justify it," said the new captain. 

"Modrić is our captain, the best midfielder in the world; he is the pride of the Croatia family, a man who presents our homeland at the highest level, with great enthusiasm," Ante Čačić gushed about Luka one year later. 

Little did Luka know that he would be wearing the captain band during Croatia's historic 2018 World Cup final. He is just a few games away from captaining his country in 40 total games. 

2018 World Cup in Russia

There are many things a Croat can’t forget, and the summer of 2018 is certainly one of them. No one thought the national team’s campaign in 1998 could be ever be surpassed, and no football fan expected Croatia to achieve what they did almost three years ago. Although it was definitely an outstanding team effort with Zlatko Dalić’s magic as a strategist, their captain’s inspirational performances will always be remembered.

Luka’s campaign transcended beyond an undoubted footballing demonstration, scoring one of the Croatia team's best goals in international tournaments against a powerful Argentina led by Lionel Messi. Likewise, he perfectly fulfilled the role of a midfielder in defensive and creative functions. The admiration for him also came for his energy and fighting spirit on the pitch, not only commanding the team as captain for the first time in a World Cup but running even when the team came from playing three games that went into extra time. He thus raised his teammates' spirits even when they found themselves below the scoreboard on various occasions, such as against Denmark, Russia, or England.

Croatia surpassed the magical generation of Šuker and Boban, reaching the World Cup final for the first time and facing the impressive France squad in Moscow. The 32-year old captain once again gave a stunning display of sacrifice and talent, but it wasn’t enough as France was crowned champion with a 4-2 win against Croatia. No one underestimated Modrić’s performance, and he went on to receive the World Cup Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. He was included in the tournament's ideal team, and his goal against Argentina was selected as one of the top ten at the World Cup.

Luka Modric wins FIFA's ‘‘The Best’’, and the France Football ‘‘Ballon d’Or’’

2018 was surely a special year for Luka Modrić. Not only did he win his third-consecutive Champions League with Real Madrid (and fourth overall), but leading Croatia that summer to the World Cup final in Moscow earned him international praise and several awards, including the prestigious ‘‘The Best’’, awarded by FIFA to the best player of the year. Luka received the award in September, as he reached 29% of the votes over Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah. He was also included that night in the FIFA FIFPro World11.

And that wasn’t all, as France Football awarded him the Ballon d’Or that same year in December, the most prestigious individual recognition a professional footballer can receive, for all his club achievements and individual performances with the ‘Vatreni’ throughout the year. Luka again put his beloved country in the spotlight, winning the desired trophy over great footballers.

Recall, for ten years (2008-2018), the Ballon d’Or had only been awarded to either Lionel Messi (5) or Cristiano Ronaldo (5). Make sure your children or grandchildren know that it was a Croatian footballer to break the streak of two of the best footballers in history!

Croatia and his beloved Zadar later received Luka as a hero.

"Playing like that at the age of 36 shows how serious and responsible he is, a true professional, to keep such a high level of play in those years. For the benefit of Croatian football, I hope that he will remain at that level until Qatar," said coach Zlatko Dalić about Modrić earlier this week. 

And we do too. 

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September 29, 2019 - Luka Modric returned to the pitch on Saturday after a muscle injury and helped Real Madrid earn a valuable point against city rival Atletico Madrid. But the result is not the only thing the media wrote about.

Index.hr and Gol.hr report that Luka Modric has been absent from the pitch for the last few weeks after a muscle injury surfaced once the international break with Croatia ended earlier this month. Recall, Croatia met Slovakia and Azerbaijan in the Euro 2020 qualifiers from September 6 to 9.

Fortunately, Luka’s injury was anything but major, and the Croatia captain recovered in time for the Madrid derby. Namely, coach Zinedine Zidane sent Modric onto the pitch for the last 25 minutes in the big derby against Atletico Madrid, which was held as part of the 7th round of La Liga. Modric missed the previous four games due to his muscle injury.

The match ended 0:0, with the slight dominance of Atletico, but also the significant inaccuracy of its players, who failed to get any dangerous shots into the goal. On the other hand, Real was very close to scoring on two occasions, but Jan Oblak reacted both times miraculously. The Croatia captain significantly improved Real’s game and showed just how crucial he is to Zinedine Zidane's line-up.

But outside of the game itself, one small detail caught the eyes of Luka Modric, Real Madrid, and football fans around the world on Saturday - Luka’s little-known pregame ritual. 

Namely, before Luka entered the match as a substitute, the camera caught Zidane's assistant and Luka sitting on the bench to go over tactics. Before Luka put on his shin pads, which adorn photographs of his wife, three children, and Jesus Christ, he kissed each photo (which you could see in the photo above). Afterward, Luka strapped the pad on his leg and covered it with his sock.

Screenshot

Madrid portal AS dedicated a short text and video to the moment entitled: "Unknown detail of Luka Modric's ritual in preparation for the match.”

The author of the text wrote that because we rarely see Modric enter the match from the bench, we are unaware of his pregame rituals, which he most likely performs in the dressing room where the cameras are not allowed. 

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