Modric's confessions: Rafa Benítez's murder of his grandfather at the hands of the Chetniks

• Leadership Vinicius finds the measurements

The policeman did not hesitate for a moment when he saw

picking up his son's ball in the middle of the street.

Not a

star

is allowed to skip the quarantine, no matter how badly

shoots.

Fight and warning to the soccer father, who returned with the guard's yellow card.

It was in the first weeks of confinement, when he killed the football bug as a family, in the garden of his new residence in

. "Getting up every morning in our house

sa de Madrid is pure magic.

It's almost always sunny and hot, and La Moraleja is a quiet neighborhood.

It's so nice to go out on the porch, sit, look at the plants in the garden, and listen to the birds.

When

Y

They are at home and the weather is good, they immediately jump to play in the pool.

At that moment, the silence gives way to their screams, their laughter, their games.

There is nothing more beautiful than watching your children play without worries.

I love being at home.

[his wife] and I like to remember our lives and look to the future.

We usually talk about all the events that have brought us here. "This is how the Croatian player expresses himself in his first autobiography, on sale in the Spanish market since last summer. In his country it has been an editorial success. In it he reviews one trajectory of continuous ascent, from those mornings as a kid helping his grandfather herding goats to consolidating himself as one of the figures of world football, with the conquest of the 2018 Ballon d'Or. But his journey still continues, as seen on Sunday at the La Cerámica field The contract ends at the end of the season, but at this level of play, he will be able to continue in the field for much longer.

, as you well know.

, retired at 34, envies the splendid maturity of

, who with just turned 35 is still able to masterfully guide the

towards the leadership of the League.

He did so in

the last day

, in another game that surely will not remain in the Croatian's golden album, as it is simply the fourth league date, against Levante, but that cement the solid career of one of the best footballers who wore the white jersey throughout his The midfielder does not need the sound of the anthems to perform a very complete function between precise orientation changes, short touches to speed up the game or deep passes, not forgetting their backward runs to pressure an opponent.

The rings do not fall off in the struggle.

,

He enters fully into episodes that have marked his life and career, such as the murder of his grandfather Luka, someone very special to him.

In fact, his mother had to take him out of kindergarten because he would not stop crying.

The reason?

He preferred to be cared for by his grandparents.

A simple country man, he did not return home one morning in December 1991, at the beginning of the

.

Murdered on the doorstep

His wife sensed that something bad had happened when she saw the loose goat entering the shortcut, without her husband and shepherd.

A patrol of

chetniks

(the Serbian guerrilla) had come across him hours before.

"He was shot to death by a submachine gun. Point blank. He was 66 years old. My heart breaks every time I think about how he died, literally, on the doorstep of his house. What kind of people can take the life of a man with such coldness? An older and innocent man? ", Modric wonders in the most intense paragraphs of a book that he now presents in Spain. Real Madrid have it that the Croatian has always been bothered that his childhood is depicted as a hard, unhappy, marked period for the tragedy in your country.

In the book, he unburdens himself with the death of his grandfather, but later his story radiates naturalness and joy, despite the curves that his family had to face since the weapons exploded in Yugoslavia.

They first passed through a refugee camp in Makarska called the

The village of children

, to later settle in a hotel in

Zadar

, authorized for those displaced by the war. He soon stood out with a ball at his feet, despite his weak physical complexion, partly blamed for the bad mouth he had to eat and his fondness for being sick as a baby. through the different soccer scenarios, from the Bosnian league kicks, where they broke his shin guards with the photo of

Ronaldo

, upon arrival in England.

He recounts, still with anguish, the weeks he spent training alone in London, once he declared in absentia at the

Tottemham

to force his signing for Real Madrid.

You acknowledge that calls from

José Mourinho, Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez

they reassured him.

La Décima and Mourinho

He gives the Portuguese coach a good part of the responsibility for his arrival at Madrid, in love with his football.

"I understood the obsession there was for the Tenth European Cup when I saw that

Mourinho

He always sat on the plane in seat number 10 ", he confesses about the most special title he has won with the white shield, being the protagonist of the corner that his friend took advantage of

Sergio Ramos

to tie the final of

Lisbon

.

"Maybe that changed the history of the club," he writes. In his review of the coaches he has had at Madrid, he highlights the description he makes of

Rafa Benitez,

wardrobe manager for just a few months of the 2015/16 season.

Modric, as a direct witness, puts letter to the conclusion that remained of the ephemeral passage of the Madrilenian by

Valdebebas

.

He did not agree with the costumes, which soon took his registration. "He was a great professional. He took care of everything down to the smallest detail and insisted that what was agreed had to be respected. Very soon it became clear that this would end up being a He wanted to change our style of play, stubbornly stating his ideas and insisting on tactical corrections, even for the most veteran players. It was clear that this way of managing the team, more like a school teacher, was not going to suit him. to give result in the

Real Madrid

", says the Croatian, who saves himself, yes, explaining that anecdote that leaked about the lessons that the coach gave him when hitting the ball with the outside, one of the midfielder's specialties. The players, before scenes Thus, smiles were poorly concealed. He is more affectionate with

Carlo Ancelotti

, remembering the summer night that took him to dinner in Madrid to talk about football, before starting his first season at the Bernabéu.

De Zidane, the current boss, talks about his charisma and the disgust he took when he learned of his sudden departure, after winning the third Champions League in a row.

Precisely, from the final in Kiev, he recalls the video about legendary NBA dynasties that the Frenchman put them to motivate them.

Of the

Bostos Celtics

Bird to the Magic Lakers or, above all, the

Michael Jordan Bulls

.

23 was the first number that

Modric

chose in professional football.

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