The Milan midfielder talks about himself in a long interview with Corriere: «As a child they told me I was too fragile»
«Life always surprises you. Things happen that you never thought possible. I was convinced I would end my career at Real Madrid, but instead…”. Talking is Luka Modricthe Ballon d’Or midfielder currently playing for Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan. In a long interview given to Aldo Cazzullo and Carlos Passerini on Corriere della Serathe Croatian talks about the victories achieved throughout his career, tells some anecdotes about the teammates and coaches who accompanied him and also talks about his childhood. Starting from grandfather Lukamurdered by Serbian Chetniks.
The relationship with his grandfather, killed during the war
«I bear his name with pride. As a child I didn’t go to nursery, I was always crying, so they took me to his “high house”at the foot of Mount Velebit, in Dalmatia. It was the house of the roadmen: the grandfather had the maintenance of the road. It was a half hour walk from the “low house” where my parents lived,” says Modrid al Courier. One evening in 1991, when the future football star was only six years old, his grandfather was killed. «They had shot him in a field on the side of the road. He was sixty-six years old. He hadn’t done anything bad to anyone. Why did they kill him? Because there was war. My father left voluntarily. We had to leave everything, from one day to the next. Friends, loved ones, things.” And that very “high house” is today for sale and could become a museum. But Modric reveals: «I would like to buy it. For grandfather and for me too. That ruin is a piece of my life.”
The relationship with Allegri and Ancelotti
When we return to talking about football, Modric talks about when as a child they told him he would never be able to be a footballer (“they told me I was too small, too fragile») and then reviews the coaches who most marked his career. The relationship with Allegri? «Until he leaves the room I can’t tell you anything! Jokes aside, he has an incredible personality.” And the best of all? «Carlo Ancelotti is the number one. Difficult to find words. For his way of being, not just for his qualities on the bench. Usually coaches don’t trust players, but he does.” The toughest of all, however, is José Mourinho, who Modric defines “special” as a technician and as a person.
Mourinho and CR7 in tears
And just about the special oneModric says: «I saw it done cry in the locker room Cristiano Ronaldo, someone who gives everything on the pitch, because for once he didn’t chase the opposing full-back. Mourinho is very direct with the players, but he’s honest. He treated Sergio Ramos and the latest arrival the same way: if he had to tell you something, he told you.”
Cover photo: ANSA/Matteo Bazzi
