Luka Modrić

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Luka Modrić
Personal information
Full name	Luka Modrić
Date of birth	9 September 1985
Place of birth	Zadar, Croatia
Height	173 cm
Position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Dinamo Zagreb
Number	10
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2002-2003 2003-2004 2004 2004-present	Dinamo Zagreb Zrinjski Mostar Inter Zaprešić Dinamo Zagreb	18 (4) 43 (8)
National team**
2006-present	Croatia	11 (2)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 September 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2006.

Luka Modrić [ˈluːka ˈmɔːdritɕ] (born September 9, 1985) is a Croatian football midfielder who is currently playing for one of the country's top clubs Dinamo Zagreb.

Modrić was born in Zadar and started his professional career in 2003 by playing for Zrinjski Mostar in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the young age of 18, he became one of their best players and was also their player of the year in 2004. He later, on numerous occasions, stated that "one who can play in Bosnian league, can play anywhere", referring to the physical nature of Premier League. Then he transferred to Inter Zaprešić and played one season for them, bringing that small team to 2nd place in the league, before joining Dinamo Zagreb in 2005.

He also started to play for the Croatian under-21 team and progressed soon to the country's A team for which he made his debut in their friendly match against Argentina played on March 1, 2006 in Basel, Switzerland. Croatia won the match 3-2 and Modrić, who was in the starting line-up and played for more than 80 minutes, was seen by many as one of the best players in the match. He collected up to this time a total of nine international caps for Croatia, including two at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany where he appeared as a second-half substitute in the team's group matches against Japan and Australia. He scored his first international goal in Croatia's 2-0 victory over Italy in a friendly match played on August 16, 2006 in Livorno.

In his team Dinamo Zagreb, he usually plays as playmaker, on the left side of the field, to make up for the lack of lefties in the team. But, his natural position is central midfielder, and he plays as playmaker solely due to his capabilities to cover that role as well, and to leave room for designated defensive midfielders in Dinamo's 4-3-2-1 formation.

He uses both feet to play, and his biggest strength is his swift offensive positioning without the ball. He's also one of few playmakers who contribute on the defensive end as well. His lack of physical power makes his shots on goal mostly ineffective. However, he has plenty of stamina and is very aggressive in duels. His timing is perfect, and his passes are accurate.

According to several Croatian newspapers, he has already attracted the attention of well-known German clubs like Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen, but will continue to play for Dinamo in the following season, due to team's "no sell" policy during the building of the squad to meet the European standards. Modrić is contracted to the club until 2015., clearly showing to potential buyers that taking Modrić away won't come easy or cheap.

In the first leg of Champions league qualifications 2006/2007, which was played in Zagreb, he practically took on the entire Arsenal FC team by himself. When in offense, Dinamo players would pass the ball to him. When in defense, Modrić would cover the field. He even caught Arsene Wenger's attention, but only to be labeled with the sentence "Croatians are very good, but very expensive as well".

Luka Modric also featured and scored in his countries second qualifying game against Andorra. The game played in Zagreb's famous Maksimir Stadium saw the Croatians go on to win 7-0, equaling their previous highest win against Australia in Zagreb, on 6 June 1998.

[edit] External links

• Luka Modrić's career timeline and detailed statistics

	Croatia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Pletikosa | 2 Srna | 3 Šimunić | 4 R. Kovač | 5 Tudor | 6 Vranješ | 7 Šimić | 8 Babić | 9 Pršo | 10 N. Kovač | 11 Tokić | 12 Didulica | 13 Tomas | 14 Modrić | 15 I. Leko | 16 J. Leko | 17 Klasnić | 18 Olić | 19 N. Kranjčar | 20 Šerić | 21 Balaban | 22 Bošnjak | 23 Butina | Coach: Z. Kranjčar