Modric, the patriarch in his sentimental refuge

When Luka Modric entered his room at the Croatia camp two days after celebrating his sixth European Cup through the streets of Madrid, they had a surprise prepared for him: the Champions League anthem began to play and his fans appeared from behind the curtains. companions to hug him. The footballer is revered in the national team, with which he has played 175 times. He has never even contemplated hanging up his checkered jersey to focus on his club. With them he was a finalist in the World Cup in Russia in 2018, third in the Qatar World Cup in 2022; and finalist of the Nations that Spain won last year.

His enthusiasm for Croatia is incombustible. The next day, the federation published two photos of him in the gym on He had arrived at his sentimental refuge.

He came from a complex course: except in 2014/15, when he missed six months due to two injuries, he had never played less, just 2,249 minutes. “People who say that when players don’t play they are happy are lying. I can’t say I was happy,” he said at the end of May in an interview at Cope.

Only a week after the Wembley final he started again. With Croatia. And he scored from a penalty. The friendly preparation for the Euro, where he makes his debut this afternoon against Spain (6:00 p.m., La1), brought about a loving reunion that underlines his endless appetite for the hot spots of football. He was facing Cristiano, who turned 39 in February. Since December 2022 he has been a member of the Saudi Al Nassr, with whom he had lost the Cup final days before seeing his former teammate. Modric, who will turn 39 in September, had just celebrated his second Orejona since the Portuguese left the Bernabéu in 2018.

He also arrived after having closed his renewal with Madrid a few days before the final. It was the not-so-obvious culmination of a course taken as a definitive turning point by Ancelotti in his generational transition plan. The message was clear from the preseason classic in Dallas: neither Kroos nor Modric appeared in the starting eleven. Nor on the first day of the League in August in San Mamés. The Croatian wandered around Valdebebas sulking. “At first it was difficult for me to understand it and assume this new role, although you can never assume it,” he said in the interview.

While he was chewing his discontent, he constantly received voluminous offers to move to Saudi football, close to Cristiano. But he refused to leave Madrid, and above all to leave Madrid. In the Valdebebas offices they imagined a 24/25 season without the number 10. They thought it was the most convenient for a transition that Arda Güler was impatient with. They were even inclined to not offer him another year of contract.

However, the wind turned. He was finding incentives to play, perhaps more marginal roles but still in the definitive moments. “You spend practically your entire career playing as a starter and important player, but there are times when you have to face other situations and fight. “I’m never going to give up,” he said. He still vibrated with that tension. He was still vibrating with the Bernabéu’s enthusiasm for him. So in the days before the Wembley final he agreed to continue for another year in that relative background of the competitive front line of elite football.

He arrived at the concentration in his refuge with his sixth Champions League, and also with the perspective that when the Euro Cup ends he will have in mind to prepare again for another season after a brief break. As he has always done. As it threatens to continue doing without an end date. “I always say that if they had given me a piece of paper to write what I wanted to accomplish in my career, I would have been afraid to write all this,” he said yesterday at the Olympic stadium in Berlin. “I did not expect. But I’m here after so many years, and I’m happy to be here.”

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