Luka Modrić admitted that the historic year also had negative consequences.
Croatia captain and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić had the best year of his career. With his club Real Madrid, he achieved their third consecutive Champions League title – and with his homeland Croatia, he led his countrymen to the World Cup final in Russia, where he was also named the best player of the tournament.
The culmination of his unforgettable season came through prestigious individual honors – and even before he was named the best footballer in the world by FIFA earlier this week, Modrić was named the best footballer in Europe by UEFA. Is the Ballon d’Or on the footballer’s horizon?
But such success also has negative side effects. Modrić, in an interview with FIFpro (Association of Professional Footballers), opened his soul and admitted he struggled to come back after an emotionally and physically exhausting World Cup, reports Gol.hr on September 28, 2018.
EXCLUSIVE: Luka Modric tells FIFPro his best is yet to come this season. He’s still adjusting after a draining World Cup. pic.twitter.com/lvt1vQ6qvs
— FIFPro (@FIFPro) September 28, 2018
“It is very hard to recover from all the emotions from Russia. It was not easy to start again. You are drained from all of these emotional moments after the World Cup, completely. Each day I feel better and better, and now I just need more games to get back to my level. But it was not easy,” he said.
Modrić revealed that he never had a shorter holiday in his career.
“I had only a 3-week holiday. The shortest amount since I started playing football. After the final was first the reception in Zagreb, and then throughout our cities in Croatia. We were so eager to achieve something great with Croatia and when we did, all of these emotions came down on us and it wasn’t easy to recover.”
However, the good news for Real Madrid fans, as well as coach Zlatko Dalić, is that Modric will soon be in full force after his whirlwind of a summer.
“I needed time to get back to my better level. Now we are all getting better, the season has started, and we need to forget about it and concentrate on this season.”
