Luka Modrić [ˈluːka ˈmɔːdritɕ] (born September 9, 1985 in Zadar, Croatia) is a Croatian football midfielder who plays for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb. He is also a part of the Croatia national team.
Modrić was born in Zadar and started his professional career in 2003 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 "someone who can play in the Bosnian league can play anywhere", referring to the physical nature of the Premier League. Then he transferred to Inter Zaprešić and played one season for them, bringing that small team to second place in the league, before joining Dinamo Zagreb in 2005.
He also started to play for the Croatian under-21 team and soon progressed to his country's senior national team. He made his senior international debut in a friendly match against Argentina on March 1 2006 in Basel, Switzerland. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany, where he made two substitute appearances in the 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.
At his team Dinamo Zagreb he usually plays as playmaker, on the left side of the field. His natural position is that of 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 4-2-3-1 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 able to contribute on the defensive end as well. His lack of physical power contradicts his shooting, which has a surprising amount of power that make his shots on goal mostly effective. However, he has plenty of stamina and is very aggressive in one-on-one battles. His timing is perfect, and his passes are accurate.
He faced Arsenal in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League 2006-07, catching Arsene Wenger's attention, who was quoted as saying "Croatians are very good, but very expensive as well".
Luka Modrić also featured and scored in his country's second qualifying game against Andorra. The game, played in Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium, saw the Croatians go on to win 7-0, equaling their previous highest win against Australia in Zagreb on 6 June 1998.
