Growing up in war-torn Croatia, Luka Modric used football as a way to escape the tumultuous conflict around him. Today he’s the captain of the Croatian national team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, having just led them to victory over Denmark in the Round of 16. The veteran footballer has come a long way since the bloody Croatian War of Independence uprooted his family in his youth, captaining not only his country’s national football squad but also playing for some of the most storied clubs in the Premier League and La Liga. Modric led his team to victory over Denmark in the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia But just who exactly is Luka Modric? How has his professional football career impacted his net worth? Here’s everything you need to know about who Luka Modric is, his age, net worth, how he makes his money and his family life. Who is Luka Modric? Luka Modric is a professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid and also serves as captain of the Croatian national team. Modric was born in Zadar, Croatia – then Yugoslavia – on September 9, 1985. Growing up, his childhood was impacted by the chaos brought about by the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s which saw his grandfather killed by Serbian rebels and his house burned, forcing his family to become refugees and eventually relocating to a hotel in Zadar. As with many other children impacted by the tumultuous period, Modric turned to football as a means of escapism. Modric played for NK Zadar in his youth career from 1996 to 2001 and later for Dinamo Zagreb from 2002 to 2003. Shortly afterwards, he started his senior career with the team in 2003, also being loaned to Zrinjski from 2003 to 2004 and to Inter Zapresic from 2004 to 2005. With Dinamo Zagreb, Modric was named the 2007 Prva HNL Player of the Year and helped lead the club to three consecutive domestic cups and league titles. His talent and success in his home country soon caught the attention of Premier League clubs and he was signed to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for a then-record fee. With his new club, Modric played a key role in leading them to their first UEFA Champions League appearance in nearly half a century as they reached the quarterfinals of the 2010-2011 tournament. In 2012, he transferred to Real Madrid where he played a critical role in helping the team win three consecutive Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018, also winning the La Liga Award for Best Midfielder in 2016 and the UEFA Club Football Award for Best Midfielder in 2017. In addition to his success in his home country, the Premier League and La Liga, Modric has also competed extensively on the global stage, making his international debut in 2006 and playing in the 2006 and 2014 World Cups and in Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016. He’s currently competing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia as the captain of the Croatian squad. What is Luka Modric’s net worth? According to Celebrity Net Worth, Luka Modric’s net worth is thought to be about $7.5 million (£5.7m). How does Luka Modric make his money? As with many professional athletes, Modric draws his wealth from both his football contracts and various endorsement deals. The veteran midfielder has earned a number of notable transfer deals over the course of his career, moving to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League in 2008 for a then-record transfer fee of $21.6 million (£16.5 million) before later moving to Real Madrid in La Liga in 2012 for a transfer fee of $39.3 million (£30 million). In addition, Modric also reportedly has endorsement deals with brands like Nike, Russell Brown and MAX TV, according to Celebrity Endorsers. Who is Luka Modric’s wife? Luka Modric wife is Vanja Bosnic, whom he married in May 2010 in Zagreb, Croatia after about four years of dating. The couple has three children: Ivano, born on June 6, 2010, Ema, born on April, 25, 2013 and Sofia, born on October 2, 2017. How old is Luka Modric? Luka Modric is 32-years-old. He was born on September 9, 1985.<doc-sep>This World Cup 2018 has had everything you'd want from a world cup: highs, lows, drama and upset - Germany, one of the favourites, going out early, and nations, such as Panama, earning their very first goals in the competition. Loading… And, of course, every World Cup has its dark horses: this time it's Croatia, whose third place finish in the World Cup in 1998 is their best ever finish. First World Cup quarter-final since 1998 :heavy_check_mark: :flag_hr: Croatia :muscle: pic.twitter.com/BqKrIlYPFH - UEFA Nations League (@UEFAEURO) July 2, 2018 Advert 10 But this time around, they have a star-studded line-up, talent all across their squad. Last night, Denmark held Croatia until extra-time but could not stop the side coming through on penalties and progressing to the quarterfinals of the competition. At 1-1 and late on in extra time, Croatia earned a penalty. Luka Modric, the captain had his ensuing spot-kick saved. But after the match, his coach, Zlatko Dalic, said that it did not stop the Real Madrid star from wanting to take another during the final shootout. Nerves of steel. "He said he wanted to take one in the penalty shoot-out - can you imagine what would have happened had he not scored? This shows the qualities of a great player and Luka is a great player," said the Croatian coach via the Metro. Advert 10 Modric is reminding people why he earned the move to Los Blancos from Tottenham Hotspur back in 2012. "Luka Modric... world class." "...I wouldn't go that far..." YOU WOULDN'T? I WOULD GO THAT FAR. I WOULD GO FARTHER. I WOULD DIE ON WHATEVER HILL I NEED TO HIKE TO. - Zack Goldman (@ThatDamnYank) July 1, 2018 Luka Modric is a modern day Pirlo. Every pass is pinpoint. Magic. - John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) July 1, 2018 I just don't think there's a better centre midfielder in football than Luka Modric - Matt Craig (@MattHDGamer) July 1, 2018 Advert 10 Despite his brilliant qualities as a player, he flies under the radar, rarely recognised as one of those elite footballers. The maestro is a favourite at this summer's tournament in Russia, and you just get the feeling that there's more to come from the play-maker.<doc-sep>Set-piece frailties could play into England’s hands Luka Modric flagged up a weakness for Croatia without being asked. “We watched the [England] game today, we saw how good they are from dead-ball situations. We have to improve that element of our game.” Freeze-frame Russia’s late equaliser from a free-kick and it is alarming just how much space Croatia gave their opponents. Seven of the 10 Croatia players in the area took up extremely deep starting positions, almost on the edge of the six-yard box. Just as significantly, none of them were “touch-tight” on any of the Russian players. Whether that was because they were marking zonally, concerned about being penalised for holding or simply too exhausted to think straight at the end of a long evening is unclear. But it was ridiculously easy for the unmarked Mário Fernandes to head home. And that is not an isolated case. A long throw against Denmark, in the previous round, led to Mathias Jørgensen’s goal. Iceland also had some joy against Croatia via set-pieces – Sverrir Ingason headed against the bar when he should have scored and long throws caused consternation again. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida, the two central defenders, are not commanding enough when attacking balls in their own area. That said, Vida did manage to score at the other end against Russia, so there is a cautionary footnote here for England. Nonetheless, with five of England’s 11 World Cup goals having come from corners or free-kicks, Gareth Southgate’s players should be encouraged. Neglectful Perisic leaves left flank exposed Ivan Strinic, Croatia’s left‑back, has long been the national team’s scapegoat. “I’ve learned how to deal with it,” the Sampdoria defender said recently, fully aware the finger of blame is generally pointed in his direction whenever things go wrong. Whether that is fair or not, it was clear that Russia targeted Strinic. Russia had plenty of joy on their right flank, where Fernandes, galloping forward from full-back, and Alexander Samedov, the wide man in front of him, caused no end of problems during the first half. Zlatko Dalic, Croatia’s coach, acknowledged that was the case afterwards and talked about there being “quite a lot of pressure” from Fernandes, who breaks from deep in a similar way to Kieran Trippier.Strinic picked up a yellow card for a cynical tug on Samedov and was later withdrawn, perhaps with that caution in mind, yet he will almost certainly start against England. In fairness to the 30-year-old, who has won 47 caps, there were some mitigating circumstances against Russia. Ivan Perisic, who started wide on the left and was also substituted, provides little defensive protection and often left the left-back outnumbered. Trippier, working in tandem with one of Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling, must look to create overloads on England’s right. Rakitic and Modric can orchestrate with style One plays for Real Madrid, the other for Barcelona, which is not a bad starting point. Aged 30 and 32, Ivan Rakitic and Modric are in now‑or-never territory for Croatia. They are playing like they realise that, too. Croatia have controlled possession in four of their five matches, peaking with 65% against Russia, and that is largely down to the influence of Rakitic and Modric. The only game where Croatia saw less of the ball than their opponents was against Argentina. On that occasion, Croatia won 3-0. The one dilemma for Dalic is how to configure his midfield to maximise Modric’s talent. When he took over last year, Dalic thrust Modric further forward, into the No 10 role, to try to give the team more penetration, and it worked. Against Russia, however, Dalic reverted to tactics more often deployed by his predecessors – and not always with success – as Modric initially sat deeper, alongside Rakitic, in order to accommodate an extra attacker. Croatia were overrun for 45 minutes. “We lacked a body in midfield,” Dalic admitted. The Croatia coach introduced Marcelo Brozovic as a screening midfielder, to liberate Modric and Rakitic, and his team controlled the game thereafter. That 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 formation, depending on how you interpret it, is likely to be how Croatia will set up against England, giving Southgate a conundrum of his own, because Jordan Henderson will, without question, need help in midfield to prevent Modric and Rakitic from running the show. A first serious test for England’s defence? With Belgium playing their reserves against England, Colombia missing James Rodríguez and Sweden’s attack led by a striker who failed to score at this World Cup, there is an argument that Southgate’s three/five-man defence has yet to be really tested in Russia. That is not to take any credit away from the way that Harry Maguire et al have performed so far, just a reminder the bar will be raised in Moscow on Wednesday. Although Croatia are not blessed with the attacking prowess of Belgium or France, Dalic still has talented individuals at his disposal, and each brings something different to the team. Andrej Kramaric, who can play anywhere across the front, is a far better player than he showed at Leicester City. The selfless Mario Mandzukic will run himself into the ground. Perisic, who was close to joining Manchester United last summer, provides craft and guile on the left, and Ante Rebic is pacy and direct. All four started against Russia. Dalic will not go down that path again because of the space they conceded in midfield, but England will be stretched regardless, especially in the wide areas behind Trippier and Ashley Young.<doc-sep>
Croatia captain Luka Modric put in a man-of-the-match performance to lead his side to a penalty shootout victory over hosts Russia, but he has no interest in personal awards as they chase their World Cup dream in a semifinal against England. Croatia came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 after 90 minutes and thought they had done enough to win when they took the lead through Domagoj Vida in extra time, but Mario Fernandes headed home a free kick to make it 2-2 and take it to penalties, which the Croatians won 4-3. The playmaker, who won a third successive Champions League title with Real Madrid before coming to Russia, brushed off suggestions that his performance might put him in the running for the Ballon d'Or prize as the world's best player. "The most important thing for me is that my national team succeeded and that we do something big. We've already accomplished something big, but we want to do more," he told reporters. "In the second half and in extra time we dominated, we should have finished the job before penalties, but maybe it's written in the stars that we have to go through the extra drama," he added. Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic was a shootout hero for a second consecutive match after persevering through an apparent hamstring injury he picked up in the second half. Subasic made three saves in the round-of-16 shootout against Denmark, and stopped the first against Russia for a total of four to match Harald Schumacher of West Germany and Sergio Goygochea of Argentina for the most in a single World Cup. Modric said Subasic told him that the injury should not be a major factor as Croatia prepare for their semifinal. "He could go on and that was the most important thing," Modric said of his goalkeeper . "I'm not sure how it affected him. But he saved fantastically the first shot in the shootout. I asked him and he said he was OK, it did not affect him much. Thank God everything is fine with him." The Croatians looked more comfortable from the spot, netting four of their five attempts with midfielder Ivan Rakitic firing home the decisive effort to put them into the semifinals, prompting tears from Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic. "I was concentrated throughout the match, but after Rakitic's penalty the emotion came bursting out of me. We made ourselves happy, but also everyone back in Croatia happy -- I don't cry often, but now I had good cause," the coach told reporters. Dalic's side now face England, who comfortably beat Sweden 2-0 earlier in the day, in their semifinal on Wednesday in Moscow. "Of course there is some power left for the English -- we will not stop, we will try to play our best game then. We have two matches to play, we are very motivated, we will give our all," Dalic said, adding that the competition is wide open. "There are no favourites at this World Cup, every game is 50-50 and you have to fight it out. The favourites, the big teams are home. The teams who are hard-working, who are compact and united, these are the teams that are still here." Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said, who plays in England for Liverpool, said his side's status as underdogs doesn't bother him. "I think we are underdogs from day one and it's good for us,'' Lovren said. "When you've got all these other teams, France, Belgium, England, that's the top teams from the beginning and we are the underdogs. Maybe we can change something." Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.