October 1, 2019 - Croatia captain and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric announced on Monday that he would be releasing a book, and namely an autobiography titled My Game.

“It is my great pleasure to announce the upcoming publication of my book. I’m happy to share my life story with all of you and I hope you’ll like My Game,” the 34-year-old footballer announced via Twitter and Instagram. 

It is my great pleasure to announce the upcoming publication of my book. I’m happy to share my life story with all of you and I hope you’ll like My Game. pic.twitter.com/8U5arJbcjj

— Luka Modrić (@lukamodric10) September 30, 2019

Recall, Luka Modric won the Golden Ball at the 2018 World Cup, where he also became a finalist with Croatia. Luka went on to win the Ballon d’Or and was named the men’s best player by FIFA and UEFA for the 2017/18 season. He also won the Golden Ball at the FIFA World Club Cup with Real Madrid, and helped the club win their third consecutive Champions League title - and that’s just part of it. 

Modric trained with his teammates in Madrid on Monday and is included in the 19-player lineup for the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Club Brugge, which will be played on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

On Saturday, Modric played the last 25 minutes against Atlético Madrid, which was his first appearance after 19 days and a muscle injury. 

After the match, HRT reported that Modric told the Spanish radio station Onda Cero that he had recovered from his injury and that he would join the Croatia national team for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Hungary on October 10 and against Wales three days later in Cardiff. 

Modric could also have a place in the starting line-up against Club Brugge on Tuesday. 

Last week, for the fifth consecutive year, the Croatian representative was ranked among the top 11 football players in the world by the FIFA FIFPro. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

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. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 24, 2019 - This year's award ceremony of The Best, organized by the World Football Federation, was held in Milan. Croatia once again had a representative among the winners, as Luka Modric was included in the world’s best 11 footballers.

HNS and Gol.hr write that the captain of the Croatia national team is back in respectable company. Namely, Luka Modric has been re-elected as a member of the best team of the year!

Slobodan Kadic

The Real Madrid midfielder and the Croatia national team captain was selected among the best 11 in the competition of 50 footballers who entered the final vote.

Along with Messi, who was named the best footballer in the world, Modric was joined by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who was also named the world's best goalkeeper, Matthias de Ligt (Juventus), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) in the defense, midfielders Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) and Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) and strikers Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) and Kylian Mbappe (PSG).

Modric has been selected in the top 11 players each year since FIFA independently organized the award, and has been in the top 11 since the 2014/15 season in FIFPro's selection. Recall, Barcelona and Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic also made the prestigious selection of 50 nominees.

Slobodan Kadic

Lionel Messi won the title of the best footballer for the 2018/2019 season, succeeding Luka Modric who won the award the season before. Megan Rapinoe was named the best female player.

Jürgen Klopp was selected as the best coach in men's football, while Jill Ellis received the same recognition in women's football. The best male goalkeeper in the world was awarded to Alisson Becker, while the best female goalkeeper was awarded to Sari von Veenendaal.

The Ferenc Puskas Award for Best Value was given to Daniel Zsori, the fair play award went to Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United, and the fan award went to Silvia Grecco and her son Nickollas.

Slobodan Kadic

The best women's team selected for the first time included Sari van Veenendaal, Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Kelley O'Hara, Wendie Renard, Julie Ertz, Amandine Henry, Rose Lavelle, Marta, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

September 6, 2019 - Croatia and Slovakia met in Trnava on Friday night as part of the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Three thousand Croatia fans made the trip to Slovakia to cheer on the 2018 World Cup finalists. 

The Croatia national football team returned on Friday to kick off the next round of the Euro 2020 qualifications. There are five games scheduled over the next three months, each of which could be decisive for Croatia’s spot in the competition next summer. The first in the series was played on Friday in Slovakia, which is followed by a visit to Baku against Azerbaijan three days later.

Croatia had an opportunity to move to the top of the group with Hungary, though Slovakia had the same plan in mind. Recall, Slovakia opened the qualifiers with a win against Hungary and a loss to Wales, but thanks to a 5:1 victory in Azerbaijan, they had a better goal differential than Croatia going into Friday’s qualifier. 

The World Cup finalists had not proven their true worth during these qualifications, though their win against Wales in Osijek gave coach Zlatko Dalic a bit of ease this summer. On Friday, however, Croatia was left without Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic, and a back injury for Tin Jedvaj put Croatia’s defense into question even more.

Croatia went into Friday’s game without the superstar lineup of the World Cup - and the starting 11 featured only captain Luka Modric, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Perisic, Marcelo Brozovic, and Ante Rebic from the silver-medalist squad. Dalic instead had to rely on Dinamo goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic in goal, Karlo Bartolec and Borna Barisic in the defense, and Nikola Vlasic and Bruno Petkovic in the attack. 

Croatia had their first real chance of the game in the 8th minute when Modric shot over the goal, which was followed by a Brozovic crossbar moments later. Livakovic saved Slovakia’s first chance at goal in the 11th minute. 

Croatia came out playing the attacking game Dalic said they would, and spent most of the first half pressuring Slovakia’s defense. However, Croatia’s biggest chance came in the 28th minute off a Modric corner when Vida missed directly in front of the goal. Croatia had three corners to Slovakia’s zero by then.

Petkovic dribbled through Slovakia’s defense in the 30th minute for a one-on-one chance with the keeper, though the goalie’s leg saved his weak shot. Just four minutes later, Perisic hit the crossbar - and in the 37th minute, Petkovic missed another chance from the penalty area. 

Opportunity after opportunity, Croatia was left without luck, that is, until the 45th minute when the young Nikola Vlasic nailed a goal in the far corner for 0:1 Croatia at the half.

The World Cup finalists kept their momentum in the second half, which shocked all spectators as a goal by Ivan Perisic increased the lead to 0:2 in the 46th minute! 

Slovakia had a chance in the 51st minute, which Livakovic had no problem saving. Petkovic had yet another chance a few minutes later but hit over the goal. An incredible play between Rebic and Perisic saw Brozovic miss. Croatia's attacking game showed no signs of slowing down, and by the 60th minute, they were running circles around Slovakia's defense. 

And then it finally happened for Dinamo star Bruno Petkovic in the 73rd minute, who danced around Slovakia's stopper to score for 0:3! 

Substitute Brekalo's fancy footwork almost increased the lead even more in the last 10 minutes of the game, and Pasalic hit just wide of the goal with five minutes to go. 

It was more than clear that Croatia wasn't done scoring yet, and a diving header by defender Dejan Lovren increased the lead to 0:4 in the 87th minute, which was the final score of the game.

The 'Vatreni' will play Azerbaijan next on Monday at 6 pm in Baku.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

September 5, 2019 - Croatia national team captain Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are among the 55 candidates for the Men’s World 11 in 2019 by the International Association of Professional Footballers (FIFPro).

FIFPro, in collaboration with FIFA, has released a list of 55 footballers, the most from Barcelona (11), while the Champions League winner Liverpool boasts seven and Real Madrid nine. For the first time since FIFPro has announced the "ideal 11”, most players are from the English Premier League - as many as 21, reports HRT.

This is the seventh time Luka Modric has been included in this list (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). The Croatia captain has been selected in the ideal team four times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) .). This is the fourth time Ivan Rakitic has been nominated (2015, 2016, 2018).

The best 11, in a 4-3-3 formation with a goalie, will be selected by more than 23,000 professional football players.

For the first time since the FIFPro introduced the best 11, there is no Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on the list, and Cristiano Ronaldo has made all 15 lists.

Goalkeepers (5)

Alisson Becker (BRA) - Liverpool FC
David De Gea (ESP) - Manchester United
Ederson Moraes (BRA) - Manchester City
Jan Oblak (SVN) - Atletico Madrid
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER) - FC Barcelona

Defenders (20)

Jordi Alba (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Trent Alexander-Arnold (ENG) - Liverpool FC
Dani Alves (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain / Sao Paulo FC
Joao Cancelo (POR) - Juventus / Manchester City
Daniel Carvajal (ESP) - Real Madrid
Giorgio Chiellini (ITA) - Juventus
Matthijs de Ligt (NED) - Ajax / Juventus
Diego Godin (URU) - Atletico Madrid / Internazionale
Joshua Kimmich (GER) - Bayern Munich
Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN) - SSC Napoli
Aymeric Laporte (FRA) - Manchester City
Marcelo (BRA) - Real Madrid
Gerard Pique (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Sergio Ramos (ESP) - Real Madrid
Andrew Robertson (SCO) - Liverpool FC
Alex Sandro (BRA) - Juventus
Thiago Silva (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Virgil van Dijk (NED) - Liverpool FC
Raphael Varane (FRA) - Real Madrid
Kyle Walker (ENG) - Manchester City

Midfielders (15)

Sergio Busquets (ESP) - FC Barcelona
Casemiro (BRA) - Real Madrid
Kevin de Bruyne (BEL) - Manchester City
Frenkie de Jong (NED) - Ajax / FC Barcelona
Christian Eriksen (DEN) - Tottenham Hotspur
Eden Hazard (BEL) - Chelsea FC / Real Madrid
N'Golo Kante (FRA) - Chelsea FC
Toni Kroos (GER) - Real Madrid
Arthur Melo (BRA) - FC Barcelona
Luka Modric (CRO) - Real Madrid
Paul Pogba (FRA) - Manchester United
Ivan Rakitic (CRO) - FC Barcelona
Bernardo Silva (POR) - Manchester City
Dusan Tadic (SRB) - Ajax
Arturo Vidal (CHI) - FC Barcelona

Forwards (15)

Sergio Aguero (ARG) - Manchester City
Karim Benzema (FRA) - Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) - Juventus
Roberto Firmino (BRA) - Liverpool FC
Antoine Griezmann (FRA) - Atletico Madrid / FC Barcelona
Son Heungmin (KOR) - Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Kane (ENG) - Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski (POL) - Bayern Munich
Sadio Mane (SEN) - Liverpool FC
Kylian Mbappe (FRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi (ARG) - FC Barcelona
Neymar (BRA) - Paris Saint-Germain
Mohamed Salah (EGY) - Liverpool FC
Raheem Sterling (ENG) - Manchester City
Luis Suarez (URU) - FC Barcelona

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

July 21, 2019 - Just over a year after the incredible success of Croatia's team and fans at the World Cup in Russia, how is Luka Modric's birthplace taking advantage of such an amazing free gift? The view from Zadar.

Zadar, this time last year.

The birthplace of one of the hottest names on the planet - Luka Modric, captain of the tiny country which dared to dream, and reached the World Cup Final. 

It wasn't just the team, it was the fans and THAT shirt. Croatia was as hot as the sexy men and women who make up its population. As a tourism country, was there a greater gift?

Sixty BILLION article views mentioning Croatia. Incredible. The 2019 season was assured, a statue of Modric was assured, and Croatian tourism was going to cash in like never before. 

If only Croatia was not located in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism. Google Trends documented 'the World Cup effect' a year later. 

The concept of branding football with tourism was obvious, surely? I felt motivated to write an article on the very subject. 

I didn't understand. This was the party as Luka Modric came home a year ago.

World Cup celebrations as they once were. 

There were even more gifts. It was almost as though a higher being was guaranteeing that Croatian tourism could not fail. At some point during the World Cup, a video emerged of a 5-year-old Luka Modric herding goats as the wolves circled. I don't know much about Luka's childhood, but to be fair he knows less about mine. His family is from the small village of Modrici close to Zadar, and they sounded like a very traditional Dalmatian village family 

I was having a Croatian tourism promotion orgasm at the prospects of what the Kings of Accidental Tourism could do with this, but here was my foreplay.

Welcome to Zadar, the birthplace of Luka Modric. Bring your kids to play football in the streets where he learned to become a World Cup star. All in a nice welcoming mural like they used to have for other Croatian heroes (see lead photo). 

Come and discover the Mediterranean as It Once Was and visit the village where Luka was born. Perfect selfie material, away from the crowds. And while you are there, why not learn more about traditional village life and cuisine with our special tour?

Zadar is pleased to host a Luka Modric World Cup kids tournament in the streets where he honed his skills. Contact us here for more information. 

Come and meet Luka's teacher and classmates, and learn how good he was at school. 

The Luka Modric goat herding experience for the kids. Pay a little extra, and add some wolves for a truly authentic experience. 

Looking for a Luka shirt as a souvenir? Zadar is full of them.

Except not quite. A Zadar friend told me tonight how shocked he was that you couldn't even buy a Modric shirt. 

I contacted the Croatian National Tourist Board to ask them for more information about how they capitalised on the World Cup gift. Here is what they had to say:

Looking at the World Cup and how the CNTB (HTZ) used this to promote Croatia, the CNTB used social media channels and UGC (user-generated content) to amplify the impact of the win both prior to, during and after the World Cup, especially with the tourism ambassadors video which starred numerous players from the Croatian National football team, which had had both great organic reach and engagement. We also had real-time campaigns across Twitter – where the CNTB had engagement higher than that of other countries, where we capitalized on real-time interaction with fans, Facebook video and posts across markets that used the aforementioned video in shorter vignettes to promote tourism products such as gastronomy, nature, active tourism, cultural tourism, etc. The Croatia Feeds campaign utilized the success via paid promotion on digital channels landing on the CF platform via the following link.

There was also over 24 hours of live broadcasts through Instagram during the World Cup. The video was also picked up and shared by 9gag, Lonely Planet and reshared by numerous other pages and individuals. Croatia also took advantage of the unintentional trampling of AFP photographer Yuri Cortez to extend an invitation to visit Croatia, which resulted in great PR and media coverage both in Croatia and abroad both prior to and during his visit to Croatia.

I have to confess the article on Croatia Feeds WAS rather good. The author's style was vaguely familiar. 

But my immediate reaction to myself was that it sounded that the job of the Croatian National Tourist Board was now over promoting the World Cup. Surely it was just beginning?

Jebiga, what do I know? A few years ago, I was persuaded to dress up as Alfred Hitchcock to celebrate the content of the filmmaker's 1964 assertion that Zadar had the best sunset in the world. It was a cloudy day and I looked a little more like Churchill, but the event was a success. And the idea has never been repeated. How hard would it be to dress up a Hitchcock lookalike at Greetings to the Sun and charge a euro a time for those beloved selfies?

But the overnight stays keep on growing. 

My ultimate fantasy for the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism is that one day the focus may shift from statistics to content. 

To learn more about Zadar, check out the Total Croatia Zadar in a Page guide. 

For the seventh year in a row, Croatia national team captain Luka Modrić was named the best Croatian footballer in the past season, while Dinamo Zagreb player Dani Olmo won two awards - the best young player and best player of the Croatian First Football League, reports HRT on June 2, 2019. 

The member of the Croatian champion and U-21 Spain team was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Opatija but thanked everyone for the honor in a video message. 

“I’m sorry that I could not be with you tonight in Opatija, but I have obligations with the Spain U-21 team. Therefore, I thank all the players and coaches who voted for me. You know that Zagreb is my second home,” said Olmo.

The winner of all possible individual awards in the past year, a footballer who broke the decade-long domination of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or, was named the best for the seventh year in a row by the Croatian Association “Football Union" (HUNS). Thus, the trophy again ended in the hands of Luks Modrić, although his season with Real Madrid was modest and without trophies.

HNS

“Thanks to everyone who voted for me, this award means a lot to me because it comes from the players themselves and the professional staff. Of course, most thanks to my teammates without which I would not receive any individual prizes,” Modrić said and announced that Real Madrid would show in the next season that they are the best club in the world.

The award for the best Croatian female player went to 26-year-old Leonarda Balog of ŽNK Split.

The best goalkeeper award went to Dinamo’s Dominik Livaković and the coach of the Croatian champions, Nenad Bjelica, was named the best coach in the HNL. 

The best team of the Croatian First League included five Dinamo players, three from Rijeka, two from Hajduk and one from Lokomotiva. The top 11 includes Dominik Livaković, Zoran Kvržić, Kévin Théophile-Catherine, Emir Dilaver, Filip Bradarić, Luka Ivanušec, Dani Olmo, Domagoj Pavičić, Bruno Petković, Jakov Puljić, and Jairo de Macedo da Silva.

For the first time, the best player of the Croatian First Futsal League named. The award went to Duško Martinac of HMNK Vrgorac. Ivan Bebek won the best referee for the first time.

The special award "Good Spirit of Croatian Football" was awarded to the longtime doctor of the Croatia national team Boris Nemec.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Inter Milan's dreams of bringing the captain of the Croatia national team over to Italy this summer might be fizzling, and fast. Luka Modrić could very well play his 8th season for Real Madrid.

Although his departure from Real Madrid has been speculated often as of late, forcing some of his fans to turn their backs on the 2018 best footballer in the world, Luka Modrić might just be staying at the Spanish giant thanks to a renewed contract. Specifically, Modrić should extend his current contract for a year, so that it will be valid until the summer of 2021, reports Gol.hr onMay 23, 2019. 

In the following days, Modrić should officially sign a new contract, which is the result of a sneaky clause in his old contract, stating that the club would extend their cooperation with the Croatian footballer if he won the Golden Ball. Modrić must have had an inkling he would win the honor to bravely slide the clause into his contract, guaranteeing the Croatian captain an additional year at the royal club. 

According to Spanish sports daily Marca, the Croatian representative has the maximum confidence in Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane and will do everything in his power to return to the level he had last season and at the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

Modrić will join Tony Kroos who also extended his contract this week with Real Madrid, although he was expected to be one of the players leaving the club. Kroos’s new contract is valid until 2023. 

Modrić played his seventh season in Madrid after repeatedly announcing that he returned mentally and physically exhausted from the World Cup, where he played in the final for Croatia.

Thanks to penalties against Denmark in the round of 16, followed by Russia in the quarters, England in the semis, and finally losing to France in the final, as well as receiving every award possible in 2018 for the best footballer in the world, Modrić ran on empty for Real Madrid this season. 

Recall, Real Madrid lost to in the semi-finals of the Cup to Barcelona and the round of 16 to Ajax in the Champions League. Last summer, Real Madrid was defeated by city rival Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Luka Modrić has won four Champion League titles, four Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, one Spanish championship, one Cup and two Spanish Super Cups with Real Madrid.

No matter how the semifinals end, Croatia will have one representative in the Champions League final on June 1st in Madrid.