Skip to main content

Luka Modric Beats French World Cup Stars To Win Ballon d’Or


 Luka Modric Beats French World Cup Stars To Win Ballon d’Or

     BTS MEDIA 
     December 3,2018 

     
BREAKING: Luka Modric Wins Ballon d'Or
Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric kisses the trophy after receiving the 2018 FIFA Men’s Ballon d’Or award for best player of the year during the 2018 FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris on December 3, 2018. FRANCK FIFE / AFP



Luka Modric’s journey from Croatian war child to the world’s best footballer was celebrated Monday when the Real Madrid midfielder hoisted the Ballon d’Or.




A national hero in his home country and crowned the best player on the planet, Modric was rewarded for his key role in Croatia’s historic run to the World Cup final and his club Real Madrid’s third straight Champions League trophy.
“It’s a unique feeling. I’m happy, proud and honoured,” said Modric, who also won the FIFA Player of the Year award in September.
The star-studded Paris ceremony could hardly be further removed from Modric’s early years as a child refugee, fleeing the burned-out shell of a remote Croatian cottage where he spent part of his childhood.
Hidden in the folds of Velebit mountain, with the nearest neighbours several kilometres away, trees now grow inside the roofless ruin and a sign warns of “Mines – Keep out!”
The player’s grandfather, also named Luka, lived in the house, lying on a mountain road winding through the Modrici hamlet.
His grandfather was killed by Serb forces, the house was burned and the family fled to the coastal town of Zadar, some 40 kilometres (19 miles) away.
It was there that Modric, born in 1985, began his footballing odyssey, drawing attention for the first time to his budding abilities.
“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 coach at the First Division club NK Zadar.

– Training under fire –

As soon as Bajlo saw Modric 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,” Bajlo told AFP earlier this year.
The 1991-1995 war with Serb rebels, during which Zadar and the surrounding region were heavily shelled, toughened Modric, 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 Modric while growing up.
Modric left Zadar, where he remains a legend, 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 chief Zdravko Mamic.
Modric’s testimony supported Mamic’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 Modric in March for giving false evidence, but dropped the case on Monday due to a lack evidence.
Any lingering anger against Modric had evaporated long ago, however, after he brilliantly inspired Croatia to their first World Cup final last summer.
Despite the 4-2 defeat by France, more than 500,000 people gave captain Modric and his team a heroic welcome on their return to Zagreb.
AFP

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We won’t approve aviation ministry’s 2019 budget unless minister shows up —Reps committee

We won’t approve aviation ministry’s 2019 budget unless minister shows up —Reps committee BTS MEDIA  December 11,2018  The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation has threatened not to approve the 2019 budget of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and all its parastatals for the failure of the Minister and the heads of parastatals to appear before the committee. The chairman of the committee, Rep. Nkiru Onyejeocha (PDP-Abia), issued the threat on Tuesday at a meeting on the 2018 budget performance with the committee, which the Chief Executives did not attend, though they sent representatives. Onyejeocha said that the committee was not happy with the ministry and all its agencies for always making excuses not to interface with the committee. According to her, their excuses are either about one director-general who is not in the country or about the other that has traveled out. “We cannot ask questions and get a reply. The budget implementation is zero, to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Senate okays higher institutions for President’s hometown, nine others Published

Senate okays higher institutions for President’s hometown, nine other BTS MEDIA November 29,2018  The Senate on Wednesday approved the establishment of 10 new higher institutions across the country. The resolution was made after the federal lawmakers adopted the report of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund. The committee’s chairman, Jibrin Barau, presented the report for consideration. The 10 new higher institutions approved by the Senate include one polytechnic to be located in the hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari, Daura in Katsina State. The federal lawmakers agreed that the establishment of the institutions would open up the education space in the country. They also expressed the belief that the step would assist the country to fight illiteracy. The Senate also said that the approval of the establishment of the institutions was in line with the policy to establish polytechnics across the states. The approved institutions inclu...
Post a Comment
Read more

My re-election a done deal – Ayade

My re-election a done deal – Ayade BTS MEDIA  November 28,2018  The Governor of Cross River State, Prof Ben Ayade, says his re-election for a second term in 2019 was a foregone conclusion. He stated this on Wednesday at the exco chamber in his office during a parley with journalists in the state. “Elections are two months away and Cross River is not feeling anything because there is no opposition. “I am not worried about the election. In 2019, I am a winner,” he said. The governor stated that with all his achievements and employment of over 6,000 aides and still counting, he believes he will be re-elected in 2019. “I am not campaigning because I am concentrating on the projects I am executing,” he said. He said he plays politics with ethics and valued his father’s name than the office of governor he occupied. Ayade also spoke about how he inherited a state neck-deep in domestic and foreign debts and was in recession, adding that he had to create a brand...
Post a Comment
Read more