To the magic flute: please continue to run with pride, there is no end to your road.

When the World Cup in Qatar has just been labeled “Twilight of the Gods”, maybe we don’t realize how sentimental this winter can be.
When the Belgian “Golden Generation”, Thomas Muller, Suarez, Bell, Lewandowski, Tiago Silva, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and other stars waved goodbye to us one after another, when their “dancing” on the field flashed back in their minds like a movie, and their excitement welled up again, maybe we realized that we waved goodbye not only to the soldiers who conquered the green field in the past. It is also waving goodbye to the youth we will no longer have.
So we set the alarm for fear of missing the players’ last moment on the World Cup stage.
Therefore, we have prepared all the copywriting for fear of missing the opportunity to say goodbye to these players in the first place.
However, there are always some people who continue to create “unexpected happiness” for us and continue to make us look forward to it.
When Modric jumped from the bench, rushed to Livakovic, who saved three Japanese penalties, and kissed him on the forehead, time seemed to stop.
When Modric took the initiative to comfort Brazilian players such as Rodrigo and Casemiro after the game, it seemed that time began to turn back.
Four years can change a lot of people and things, but not Modric.
The 37-year-old, standing in the middle of the court, still looks the same. He is still the fighter who can do his best to win, and the man who can give everything for the team.
The 37-year-old, now incarnated as an “omnipotent warrior”, tells the story of “I’m not old enough to fight” in the way he does best.
When Modric wrote “never give up” on Twitter after he eliminated Brazil in Croatia, he seemed to be the kid who honed his football skills under gunfire.
Modric, who grew up from the flames of war, had a nightmare childhood. With his hometown in the heart of the civil war, his life is filled with the smell of gunpowder all the time.
Even if they fled their hometown at the age of 6 with their families to seek refuge in the nearby port city of Zadar, they were not at peace in a refugee hotel-a city that was often attacked by gunfire and survived it. It all depends on your luck.
However, life is so difficult that Modric has never given up football. Whether it is the hallway of the hotel or the crater-strewn parking lot, it is his “football paradise”.
Even if he became a member of NK Zadar and began to receive formal football training, Modric’s life was not far away from the smoke of gunpowder. The team’s training stadium often saw mortars passing by, and the explosion of grenades was often heard in the distance.
It is in such an environment that Modric continues to improve his ability and gradually has the look of Croatia’s “hope for the future”-when he played for NK Zadar, although Modric was still thin, he was outstanding among his peers in terms of speed, skill and predictive ability.
As the team’s youth coach Miodrag Paunovic said at that time: “in my opinion, Modric is destined to be a great player.”
When Modric led by example when the team was 0-1 behind Brazil, he kept charging at his opponents and finally helped the team win, which seemed to be the epitome of his growing up in “negation” over the years.
The 12-year-old Modric had tried to train Hay Duke split, but was eventually rejected because he was too thin. It was NK Zadar’s youth coach Tomislav Basic who helped Modric regain his confidence and find him a personal trainer for his future success.
Modric reached his first real low point in his career when he joined Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 16. Originally regarded as the “prince” of NK Zadar, he seemed at odds with everything in the big city of Zagreb, like a “small town youth”. He is not used to life in big cities, and he is at a loss as to what to do when he has been assigned to play for a long time on the youth team-the pride and pride that Modridge built up in Zadar was overwhelmed at once.
But Modric did not give up, he seized the opportunity of two lease exercises, not only won the Bosnian Premier League footballer of the year, Croatia’s star of the year honor, but also successfully reaped Zagreb Dinamo’s 10-year New Testament.
After his return, Modric did not stop himself, and he became stronger and better when he got back on his feet. He helped the team win the league title for three consecutive seasons between 2005 and 2008, and he won the Croatian footballer of the year award in 2007 and 2008.
At the same time, Modric began to release his energy on a larger stage. In 2006, he made his debut on the World Cup stage with the Croatian national team.
After shining in the Balkans, Modric set his sights on the larger world-before moving to Tottenham, many European giants, including Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona, had the idea of signing Modric. But in the end, Modric decided to find a team that could provide him with a stable starting opportunity, so Tottenham were lucky to get the young Croatian midfielder.
However, this upward climb is not nearly as smooth as Modridge imagined. He joined Tottenham with the halo of “one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe”, but failed to show his potential in the first few months because of his slimness and injuries. Tottenham are also experiencing the worst start in team history, struggling to win in the first eight rounds of the league.
Fortunately, Modric did not give up, he has been working hard, and waited until the head coach Redknapp, who pushed him to the top. With the help of Ray, Modric quickly got out of the predicament, played an amazing game in the 4-4 draw with Arsenal and quickly became one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
Modric beat Inter in the group stage of the Champions League and won the first place in the group stage of the Champions League, and then played an important role in the 1/8 final to eliminate Milan.
After the success at White Hart Lane, Modric also had a bigger goal-when he could not move to Chelsea, he said with regret: “I have played for Tottenham for four years, won the love of a lot of fans, and I enjoy every second here.” but I think it’s time for me to move on and go to a higher level. ”
There is no doubt that the Bernabeu is the “temple” that Modridge aspires to, but it will take a lot of hardship for him to really step on the throne.
Modric made his debut 48 hours after joining Real Madrid and won his first championship trophy in Spain-the Spanish Super Cup-but due to lack of pre-season training, he did not immediately show the strength to conquer the fans, not to mention the harsh Real Madrid fans. In addition, Mourinho’s tactical strategy does not seem to suit Modric’s game style, so he has never had a chance to really prove himself.
In an opinion poll conducted by Marca newspaper, Modric became the worst player in La Liga voted by fans with 32.2% of the vote.
This time, Modric did not flinch either. And at the moment when Mourinho left and Carlo Ancelotti became the new coach of Real Madrid, Modric’s real Madrid career also ushered in the dawn. Modric’s corner assist at the end of the 2013 Champions League final became one of Modric’s proudest moments at Real Madrid over the years-he assisted Ramos, who headed the equaliser and Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 in extra time to win their 10th Champions League title.
Today, Modric, who has played for Real Madrid for 10 years, has brought the team not only 454 games, 36 goals and 74 assists, but also a series of trophies, including five Champions League titles and three La Liga championships. He has already become the absolute commander of the team’s midfield, the symbol of the Bernabeu and the embodiment of football art.
In the plaid regiment, Modric is even more so.
There is no shortage of European midfielders in Croatia, from Prosineski to Zvonimir Boban to Nico Kovic, a group of Croatian midfielders who have been baptized by the flames of war through their own efforts, paved the way for future generations to the top leagues in Europe and showed the world the strength of Croatian football at the 1998 World Cup.
For this reason, when Modric first put on the red-and-white checked Croatian shirt, he bore the expectations of 4 million people-he knew exactly what it meant.
Perhaps Modric still remembers the scene when he missed a penalty at Euro 2008, leading to the team’s defeat in the 1/4 final, and the helplessness of failing to lead the team to qualify in the 2014 World Cup. At the same time, he must remember how he took over the captain’s armband from old captain Silner on August 29, 2016 and began to prop up the plaid legion.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia was a meaningful trip for both Modric and Croatia. With a three-game winning streak in the group stage, Modric successively helped the team break through Nigeria and Argentina. In the 1/8 final against Denmark, Modric defeated the demons in a penalty shootout after conceding a penalty in the 116th minute to break through the door guarded by Schmeichel. In the 1/4 final, the 33-year-old Modric had to lean against the billboard to catch his breath when he was tired to play a corner kick, but it was still a corner kick to assist Vader, opening the team’s first goal.
In the semi-final against England, Modric once again ran the full 120 minutes, although he did not score a goal, but his organization and scheduling, his steals and interception were the key for the team to the final. In the end, Croatia was a glorious defeat! Under Modric’s leadership, Croatia made history.
Even though the flying gold foil was not scattered for him, he was more worthy of the applause of the tsunami than anyone else. Because the moment he won the World Cup Golden Globe, he was not alone-even when he broke the rule of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and won the 2018 Golden Globes-we saw Prosineski, Boban and Kovic in him, which is the spiritual inheritance of Croatian midfield leaders and the continuation of Croatian tenacity.
At that moment, Modric represented the whole of Croatia, represented the tenacious fighting spirit of all Croatian players in pursuit of the highest honor, and represented the “never give up” of all Croats.
Conclusion
Now against battlefield, the 37-year-old Modric is still the most trustworthy man in the plaid corps.
Although Croatia’s performance in the World Cup group stage in Qatar is not as bright as we thought, Modric will always use his own efforts to help the team turn the corner. As Dahlich said: “it is difficult to find a 37-year-old player to lead the team at such a competitive level.”
When Modric ran for 120 minutes against Brazil and scored in a penalty shootout, when WhoScored statistics tell us that Modric is the player with the most interceptions and steals in the midfield of the Qatar World Cup and the most playing time in the World Cup, we may wonder whether Modric is really 37 years old and old enough to fade out of the national team.
Maybe Mayer, 24, can wait a little longer and your big brother can fight for another four years.
(Armour)