The Ballon d’Or Ceremony was held in Paris days ago, and the Real Madrid star Modric from Croatia won the award. The votes showed: Modric got 753 points, C. Ronaldo got 478 points. Modric won Ronaldo in a total of 275 points. Modric broke the duopoly of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for 10 years, and the Ballon d’Or finally ushered in a new king.
In 2018, Modric achieved a harvest in personal honor. He won the World Cup Golden Ball Award in 2018, UEFA Player of the Year, FIFA The Best and the Ballon d’Or. With Real Madrid, he won the Champions League in three consecutive times. In World Cup, he led Croatian team into the final. Although the Croatian team did not win the title in the end, but it still created the best result in their country’s history. They have shown the world their unity, courage and fighting spirit.
However, in Modric and his Croatian teammates growing process, there has never been easy. War, poverty, relatives being killed, fleeing, bleeding… It is hard to imagine what Modric and his Croatian teammates have been through when they are still a child.
In the World Cup, they played the tough games one after one. In the group stage, they beat Argentina and the black horse Iceland. In the knockout phase, they played three games into overtime with tenacious perseverance. In the penalty shootout, they turned over the games and eventually reached the final. The games were all tough battles, but they fought till the end and got the win.
In the final against the strong French team, when they were down in the score, they did not lose the confidence and determination to win the championship. They tried their best to fight, defense, attack… In the whole 90 minutes, they gave all they have. But they can’t make a miracle. They lost to France by 2:4.
On that night when the Frenchmen kissed the World Cup, the Croatian boys looked at the trophy with tears in a place just a stone’s throw from the championship. At that moment, it seemed that the whole world was solidified in their eyes. They were so close and so far away from winning the trophy.
This group of young men bears the dignity and destiny of the entire country! The story behind them is awe-inspiring!
Croatia is familiar and unfamiliar to us at the same time. Because this country is too young, she is only 27 years old, from the founding of the country in June 1991 to the completion of the true unity in January 1998. This is a war-torn country, and their team came out of wars. Croatia is too small, with a land area of only over 50,000 square kilometers and a population of only 4 million. It is such a small country that get into the World Cup final.
In June 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, which led to civil war. That year, Luka Modric was only 6 years old. He faced poverty, war and even the danger of life at any time. This is Modric’s childhood. Recently, a video has been circulating on the Internet, which is a realistic reflection of the situation of children in war. The little boy who was herding sheep in the image looked at the reporter’s camera in horror. He thought it was a barrel.
Can you imagine it? This boy is Luka Modric who won the 2018 Ballon d’Or.
When he was 7 years old, his grandfather was arrested and then killed by the Serbian guerrillas when he was grazing on a hillside. In order to stay away from the war, the family went to another city, Zadar, but could only live in a hotel where refugees were placed. In a hotel called Colovare, his innate football talent was quickly discovered by a club’s coach and he began his football career.
However, with their training, it was the roar of gunfire. While training, they also guarded against the attack of grenades and mortars. This group of children under the age of 10 often practise in the last second, and run to the bomb shelter to avoid the stray bullets in the next second.
In the World Cup, Croatian players have a spirit of running. People often see that the players on the field are exhausted and cannot run, but they still stubbornly stay on the pitch and refuse to rest. They said they can still run! They can still fight! In fact, it is their race against fate, they are using life to run for the dignity of the motherland! For the children in the war, football, is their only dream!
Luka Modric grew up in the war. After unremitting efforts, he became the core midfielder of Real Madrid and the captain of Croatia. As the core player of the Whites, he helps Real Madrid to win the Champions League for three consecutive times. As the captain of Croatia, he led the team to reach the final of the World Cup and created a miracle in the history of Croatian football.
Croatia has never lacked a miracle. In 2006, when the 19-year-old Messi is shining, in a friendly match between Argentina and Croatia, Luka Modric substituded to be on the pitch, and the Croatian team finally beat Argentina. That year, Modric was 21 years old, this is the first time Messi played against Modric. Messi at that time may also notice this blonde player. 12 years later, in Russia, Modric also gave Messi a loss. Croatia beat Argentina by 3-0 and sent Argentines home.
Croatia has never lacked a miracle. As early as 1998, Croatia had just ended its civil war. The golden generation, composed of Sooke and others, got into the semi-finals in 1998 and won the third place in the World Cup. They tried their best to show the world the spirit of Croatia like a heroes.
Like Modric, Croatian midfielder Rakitic, his whole family flee to Switzerland in order to escape the war. He has dual citizenship in Croatia and Switzerland. At that time, the Swiss national team hoped that he could play for Switzerland, and Croatia was also recruiting him to return home. For a player, once you choose to play for a country, you can’t change it for your whole life.
Rakitic was influenced by his father from a young age and had deep love for the motherland. When he took the document that showed he would play for Croatia to his father, the old man cried. A man who had never shed tears in the flames of war, shed tears emotinally when reading the document.
It is said that Rakitic even received the death threat of Swiss football hooligans, and asked him to change to Switzerland, but he still did not change his mind and chose to fight for the motherland – Croatia!
The Croatian striker Mandžukić, the 32-year-old veteran who was born in 1986, has experienced the same thing as well. In order to escape the war, his family fled to a small village in Germany. For his motherland, he gave his everything in 2018 Russia World Cup and perhaps it was the last time for him to represent Croatia. Besides, Lovren and Corluka, who grew up in the war and fled everywhere to became refugees, still chose to play for their motherland – Croatia!
At the end of the semi-final of this World Cup, there is a scene. Croatian official Eva Oliwari walked to the goalkeeper Subasic and gave him a big hug, in order to prevent him from taking off his jersey. It turned out that Subasic has been taking this celebration action for 10 years. FIFA has issued a warning that if he makes this action again, he will be severely punished.
In fact, this action is to commemorate his brother and teammate who was growing up with him: Custic – a Croatian player who has passed away years ago. Subasic and Custic, like their captain Modric, also grew up in the war in Croatia, and their fathers even went to the battlefield.
From an early age, they hoped that they could fight for their motherland in the World Cup, just like the heroes of the “98 Golden Generation.” They don’t have Modric’s football talent, but through hard work and tenacity,they become the main force players of Croatia.
In a league game, Custic tried his best to run like he always did in every game. However, tragedy happened. His head hit a wall beside the pitch and he never woke up again. Since then, Subasic has printed Custic on the T-shirt, and he has brought his brother together in every game. The friendship that has experienced the war together is just so deep and touching.
When the boys were fighting for the country in the World Cup, there was a beautiful woman on the stand cheering for them. She also experienced the war as these young men. This woman who came out of the war is the current female president of Croatia: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.
Because of the war, Kolinda, like other girls, drove tractors, weeded, and squeezed goat milk from a young age, and bravely took on the responsibility of the family. It was the suffering of the war that made her grow up to be the first female president in Croatian history.
In this World Cup, 50-year-old Kolinda took the economy class at her own expense and came to Russia to cheer for the Croatian team. Because she knows that the Croatia boys were fighting for the future of Croatia. Croatia is too young. ]The world needs to know the suffering Croatia has been through. Croatia needs to be recognized by the whole world and also show the spirit of the country to the world!
Kolinda also knows better that this group of young men has done their best in World Cup. They have tried their best and gave everything for Croatia! In the award ceremony after the final, she was full of tears and gave big hugs to every player. She is like a mother, comforting every child of her own!
When the 33-year-old Croatian Captain, Luka Modric took over his own Golden Ball Award, there was no expression of excitement, no arrogant smile, and the world only saw the silence and desolateness in his eyes. He was not just fighting for himself, he was fighting for the entire country! Only one step away, he can engrave the glory of Croatia at the pinnacle of the world.
When Kolinda hug Modric like a mother and wiped his tears for him, this strong boy couldn’t help crying, and Kolinda cried too. The whole world was deeply moved!
That moment belongs to Croatia! As Modric has said, “Maybe our destiny is written on the stars.” This small country that came out of the war made the world see their national spirit. This group of young Croanstia used their shoulders to bear the responsibility and the spirit of the whole country. They tried their best to write the country’s destiny on the stars and make it shine!