Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric is widely considered one of the best midfielders of his generation. He was, after all, the one to break the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo monopoly in the Ballon d’Or race and beat them both to win it in 2018.
Despite his legendary reputation, Modric still remains a down-to-earth guy and proved that with a meeting with AS Roma legend Francesco Totti.
The Italian star recently visited Real Madrid’s facilities and caught up with all their players, including the likes of Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr and Modric himself.
The Croatian midfielder was delighted to have met with Totti after following his heroics at AS Roma in the late 1990s and 2000s. Totti is recognized as one of the best forwards in Italian football history and an icon for AS Roma, having made 785 appearances for them and scoring 307 goals at that.
Totti was a pure one-club man, who spent his entire career with the Giallorossi before retiring from football in 2017. His humility, loyalty and incredible football knowledge have made him an inspiration for many current footballers – which includes Modric himself!
The Real Madrid midfielder recently posted a picture of him posing with Totti with the caption: “One of my childhood heroes. @Totti.” This only proves that Modric followed the Italian forward’s heroics when he was still coming through the system as a young aspiring footballer.
Even though the Croatian midfielder has arguably surpassed Totti – having won the Ballon d’Or as well as multiple Champions League titles in his career – he still has the utmost amount of respect for the Italian legend and was keen on letting the fans know that after their lovely interaction.
What history do Totti and Modric share?
While this might be a faded memory for many football fans, Modric and Totti actually went up against each other once in 2014. It was a pre-season friendly game between AS Roma and Real Madrid in the ‘International Champions Cup’ – which Roma ended up winning by the margin of 1-0.
However, Modric took the time to catch up with his childhood idol after tussling him on the pitch during the game. He convinced Totti to swap shirts with him and even posted a picture of his shirt on Instagram with the caption: “Most valuable shirt I exchanged with any players… My idol…”
Last year, Modric again spoke up on that incident of swapping shirts with Totti and told Marca: “Totti is one of the players I liked most because of his way and his style of playing football. Playing against him was really impressive. For me, swapping shirts and talking to him was a special moment.”
The Italian legend is also on good terms with Luka and is an admirer of his quality, as he spoke glowingly about the Croatian after his visit to Madrid’s facilities. He said: “I have a special relationship with Luka Modrić. We admire each other. I have the pleasure of knowing him personally and he’s an extraordinary player and person.”
This surprising bond shared between two of the 21st century’s most likeable, down-to-earth footballers is really lovely to see and an example of the famous term ‘class recognizes class’.
Modric is likely to sign on to play for Los Blancos for at least another season but is currently focused on helping them compete strongly in the Champions League and end the season with another major European trophy as well as the Copa Del Rey title.
