We know all about our favorite athletes ... or not? In this section of my blog we explored 10 curiosities that we probably did not know about our favorite sports stars. In this edition we will know more about the man of the hour in the world of football, a real crack, "The Best" Luka Modric.

1) A childhood marked by war.

Luka Modric was born in the former Yugoslavia in the middle of the Balkan War, where the independence of his country Croatia was obtained. This was not an easy situation for a child like Luka, in which at a very young age he had to witness first hand the lashes of the war in which his family was persecuted and his grandfather was killed. His family was evicted from his hometown and they had to live in shelters, fearing for their lives every night.

2) Football, your escape.

In the middle of the war, Modric got a friend on the ball. In the shelters he played football to distract himself from the horrible situation he was in. Even when the war ended, Modric's family decided not to return to his hometown and support him in his dream of being a footballer despite his limited financial resources.

3) The love of your life.

Modric has always been very shy, but it surprises how he met his wife. She is called Vanja Bosnic and when Luka played in Dinamo Zagreb, she was the daughter of the manager's club leave and worked on the managerial side. They met in 2007 due to a phone call to work and stayed on the phone for 3 hours. From there, love arose and they have never separated again.

4) The most expensive signing in the history of Tottenham.

When Juande Ramos was coach of Tottenham, he put his eyes on that little player who stood out in Dinamo Zagreb. He convinced the board to pay 27 million euros for Modric to land in the Premier League, becoming at that time the most expensive signing in the history of the club.

5) Similar to Johan Cruyff.

Luka Modric is compared to the Dutch legend not only for football reasons, but also for his incredible physical resemblance. So much so that at one time Modric was known as "The Balkans Cruyff”..

6) He was able to play at Barcelona.

When Pep Guardiola was coach of Barcelona and Modric played in Totenham, he contemplated the possibility of signing him. Until Modric came to comment that he was excited to play at Barcelona and even came to pose with a Blaugrana shirt that gave him a fan. However, Guardiola ended up backing the hiring because he considered that with Iniesta it was enough for him. Luka Modric finished signing with Real Madrid and the rest is history.

7) Problems with the law.

Luka Modric is currently under suspicion for alleged false testimony in a case against the corrupt former president of the Croatian Football Federation, who stole more than 15 million euros illegally in player transfers. Many consider that Luka was an accomplice to some of these acts and that he lied in favor of this manager. The case is still open and Modric could face a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.

8) Modric the polyglot.

Over the years and thanks to his stay in different countries, Modric has mastered different languages ​​such as English, Spanish and Portuguese as well as Croatian. It is curious that he learned to speak Portuguese thanks to his Brazilian teammates at Dinamo Zagreb who taught him.

9) National legend.

Luka Modric went from being one of the best players in the history of Croatia to become a national idol and the greatest legend of his country, after guiding as a captain to Croatia to the historic final of the 2018 World Cup. In addition, Modric won the World Cup Golden Ball, which distinguished him as the best player in the tournament.

10) The Best.

Luka Modric became the first player different from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win one of the two most important individual awards in the world of soccer (FIFA The Best / FIFA World Player and Golden Ball) in the last 10 years. In this way ended the decade of the duopoly that exerted the Portuguese and the Argentine, and it seems that Modric is emerging as the number 1 candidate to dethrone them both definitively by winning the Golden Ball in the coming months.