How Modric and Croatia continue to defy the oddsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Luka Modric made his Croatia debut in 2006 and has won 198 capsByAlex BysouthBBC Sport Senior JournalistPublished16 minutes agoThe small, skinny, teenage midfielder was very protective of his flowing locks. But the attention spent on his hair was becoming a problem for the coach.”I was freaking out,” smiles Romeo Jozak. “Of course, I didn’t know he was going to become the Luka Modric down the road.”Any pass he was going to do, it was [flick of the hair]. We even had a couple of fights. Well, I was the coach and I had the last word, so he eventually cut that hair!”Modric, Croatia’s most successful ever footballer, has since regrown those locks and that small, skinny frame has carried him to six Champions League titles with Real Madrid and a Ballon d’Or.
He captained Croatia to a World Cup final in 2018, third place four years ago and, aged 40, will lead his side into their 2026 opener against England on Wednesday (21:00 BST).
Modric and Jozak, who has played a key role in the development of the nation’s top talent, can laugh about their early exchanges now.
“He did say ‘do you know you and the army [Modric spent a year doing national service] are the only ones that cut my hair’,” says Jozak. “There’s a respect and I feel it whenever we see each other, even though he’s now the superstar.”
Modric’s rise to such superstar status – from a child displaced by war to a national icon approaching 200 caps for Croatia – is an underdog story synonymous with a country that continuously defies the footballing odds.
