The end of a goalorious journey: Rudraneil Sengupta on Modric and De Bruyne

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

His grandfather had been shot in front of him and his family by Serbian rebels, who then set fire to their house in the tiny, arid village of Modric, in what was then Yugoslavia.
Modric's family fled the region amid the war for Croatia's independence, and lived for a while in a sprawling, dilapidated hotel in the small town of Zadar, about 700 km down the coast, along with hundreds of other displaced families.
The parking lot of the hotel became his playground.
In this gravelly, pockmarked square, he thrilled the other children with his extraordinary talent. He was small and thin for his age, but made up for that with skills he seemed to have picked up all on his own. Even in the midst of a war, it was clear: Modric would be a footballer.
What could hardly have been predicted was that he would become one of the greatest players in the history of the game, a midfield maestro whom the legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti would call 'a gift to football'.
Last week, Modric played his final game, for Real Madrid, after a 12-year career there in which he grew to be the best midfielder in one of the best clubs in the world.
You know it's been an extraordinary week in the world of football when the sentence above can be used again, word for word, changing only the proper nouns. Last week also saw Kevin De Bruyne play his final game for Manchester City.
Modric finishes his footballing career at the astonishing age of 39, still pencil-thin but with calves that now look like they were sculpted by Michelangelo. He has helped Real Madrid win 26 trophies, including four La Liga titles and six Champions League ones — more than any other player in the history of the club.
Meanwhile, De Bruyne, his golden locks flying, helped take Manchester City from mediocrity to extreme success, helping win six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and a Champions League trophy, among others. In his 10 years there, all of which was spent being the force around which Pep Guardiola plotted City's rise, City became the only team to accrue 100 points in a single premier league season, win the league four times in a row, and win every single domestic trophy in a single season.
Both the Real Madrid and Manchester City squads, in this last decade, have overflowed with supreme talent. Yet there is little doubt that the identities of these two teams in this period have been shaped by the two players who bade goodbye last week.
Whether it was with Xabi Alonso, Casemiro or Toni Kroos, Modric's creativity, vision, and exceptional skill — arguably, no footballer has ever passed the ball with the outside of the foot with consequences as lethal — was the spark that lit up Real Madrid. At the 2018 World Cup, Modric brought all those attributes to bear for his national team as well, taking Croatia to the final (where they, to the surprise of most, lost) and winning the Golden Ball.
De Bruyne too was blessed to be surrounded by amazing players — David Silva and Rodri come to mind first — but it was the Belgian, with his singular blend of speed, strength, pace, vision and passing skills, who defined City's incomparable attacking play.
Modric and De Bruyne were gifts to football. For the two clubs they leave behind, their exit draws the curtain on an extraordinary era.
(To reach Rudraneil Sengupta with feedback, email [e-mail])