“I’ve seen a great deal of hardship in my life,” the 32-year-old Modric said Saturday. “What is the most important is never to give up, never to give in to circumstances, to trust yourself.
Loyalty and a team-first ethic run through the national team from Croatia, which gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and has a few players younger than the country itself.
“I don’t like to go back to these things. It’s all in the past.” said Modric, who was a child when his grandfather was killed and his family forced from its home. “Of course, everything influences you.