Luka Modric may be Real Madrid’s oldest ever player but he’s still got it | Real Madrid

FElenc Puskas played pregnant, as his teammate Amancio Amaro likes to say. On the day he arrived at Real Madrid in 1958, he was 31 years old, 18 kg overweight, and had not played football for two years, having been suspended by FIFA for defecting after the Hungarian uprising. It was impossible for him to be on a pitch like this, telling club president Santiago Bernabéu, “Everything is good in signing me.” Saw myself? “I was the size of a big balloon,” he recalled, and coach Luis Carniglia didn't know what to do with him either. The Bernabéu replied that their problems were not his problems. After all, he was blessed with the best left foot of anyone and went on to score 242 goals, the only problem is that he didn't do it sooner.

most people called him Kanyonshito pum! (Little Cannon Bang!), Alfredo Di Stefano called him Little Cannon Big Belly. That summer, Puska trained in a vinyl and wool jumper. By the end of the season, he had scored the goal that took Real Madrid to the European Cup final. A year later, he scored four goals in the final, but the match ball was given to Erwin Stein. He was old when he arrived and was probably considered finished, but he helped Madrid reach three more points. He scored a hat-trick in 1962 and played in 1964, but when the 1966 finals arrived eight years later, it was over. Left behind during the trip to Brussels, he was part of a makeshift cup team that played Betis 1,000 miles south three days earlier.

It was Puskas' last match on May 8, 1966. He passed away at the age of 39 years and 36 days. None of the older players had played for Madrid before Carlo Ancelotti called up Luka Modric this Saturday, an hour into the visit to Vigo. His mission is to do what he does, what he has done so often, and to lead. Williot Swedberg scored the tying goal to make it 1-1, flying over the advertising board and into the arms of the ball boys. Balide becoming wildCelta was everywhere. Madrid were overwhelmed. But then Modric entered the fray. 1153 seconds later, with Madrid in the lead again, Vinicius Junior pointed at the old man as he ran towards the corner and said: “What a pass, what a pass!”

This wasn't done yet – Celta were great again and deserved more – but in the end another game was taken back. The AS headline read: “Celta plays, Madrid wins.” A few flashes were enough. Kylian Mbappé's right foot gave them the lead, Thibaut Courtois' left foot made two great saves and Vinicius scored the winner. After the match, Modric, who wears number 250, handed him his Madrid shirt. Actually, it should be 39 or 40, but every time he wins with his team now, he gets one. years and days. Maybe it didn't fit, or maybe you were worried about getting him into trouble. “I don't like being reminded of my age, but it's amazing,” he said later.

No wonder a headline in Marca called him “The Eternal Solution”. There's a reason why Luka Modric still exists, and it's not nostalgia, it's the fact that a player who wasn't guaranteed a starter when he arrived 12 years ago has gone on to become the best midfielder ever to play for the biggest club. It is not the fact that Even though he played more games than anyone else, he didn't play 547 games or win 27 trophies. It was not the last night in Europe that Vicente Calderon calmly led through a biblical storm, flaunting his superiority and preternatural calm. leave it to me; is not a delivery of La dEshima;do not have that The outrageous pass to Rodrygo against Manchester City or the pass against PSG that you can't see even if you pause the video Exactly correct point. It's not the moment or the music, the joy of his playing, the outside of the boot, the magician's wand, or all that unique, understated simplicity, but it's all there and will be. It's much simpler. He's still figuring it out.

There were times when it didn't seem like there was much time left, but there's no way it wasn't close to 40. – and the moment it could have gone in a different direction, the moment Modric could have gone too. In 2018, they were in talks with Inter. The World Cup finalist had won three consecutive Champions Leagues and was on the brink of winning the Ballon d'Or. After six years in Madrid, he decided now was the time, as he turned 33. It hasn't been an idea he's wanted to realize since. Madrid blocked the move, insisting they would only move if someone paid his 750 million euro buyout clause. Six years later, the man Rodrigo calls father, who is only a year older than his biological father, is of course still there.

That requires him to have outstanding talent and temperament, a passion for the game and the determination that goes with it. This is not the football Puskas played. Modric is a tough little guy with calves like cannonballs, a sharp, exhausted face, not an ounce of fat, and a glimpse of his attitude as well as his art. “I'm very proud to have achieved this and to continue at the best club in the world,” he said on Saturday, and part of that is pride. “He is an extraordinary professional with character,” Ancelotti said, and he knows it. This person isn't someone who welcomes the chance to hold out for a few minutes, much less someone telling them when it's time to leave, and that wasn't always easy to manage.

The transition remained incomplete, projected reductions were postponed and any withdrawals were put on hold. A move to MLS had been floated for some time and it was unclear whether an extension would be offered at the Bernabéu, but the club was once again full and determined to fight on. Martin Odegaard's early return from a two-year loan to Real Sociedad opened the door for him, but Modric blocked it. The 3rd-4th place deciding match at the last World Cup was worth going to just because it would be his last, but it wasn't. Last week, he played twice for Croatia, taking his cap tally to 182. Ivan Rakitic is gone. Modric continued. “He is a lesson to all of us,” the compatriot said.

After Manchester City defeated Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League semi-finals in May 2023, it looked like it was a walk-off. Last year, we won the miraculous title. all of themThere were already glimpses of the coming transition, captured in some of the gorgeous photos of Modric and Kroos, the two men sitting on the bench after it all. watching children play. “We had to ask for patience from the younger players and understanding from the older players,” Ancelotti said. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but the defeat at Etihad meant accelerating a generational change, ushering in a new era, a new style – a move towards something more dynamic and more “modern”. did.

Except that the eternal, universal truth of the ball got in the way. Ancelotti immediately modified his athletic approach in search of control. In the end, he decided that while he needed a veteran, one was enough. Modric, 38, did not play in the next two league games after being taken off at half-time in the derby last September, leaving it to Kroos to provide him with timing and vision. Kroos was at his best even in the last season of his life. The authority that Ancelotti sought. After starting nine games in the previous year's Champions League, Modric only appeared in three games last season. He wasn't happy and it showed at times, but he still had a role to play – eight games in Europe as a sub, 32 games in the league, 18 games as a starter – and every time he appeared. Madrid looked better. What was likely to be his last season ended on a high for him, until the final day when fans sang for him to stay. 6th European Cup. No one has won more, including Puskas.

Instead, it was Kroos who left at the age of 34, five years younger, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. For him, anyway. And for Modric, it turned out that Madrid were able to erase any doubts about his continuity, which is what he wanted at all costs. “Luka and I have different views on how to end our careers,” Kroos said. “I always wanted to end with a great moment, with my body still functioning well.”

“I feel good mentally and physically. I'm playing and that's all I want,” Modric said on Saturday. He's started five of the previous 10 games, all with playing time, reflecting a reality that remains for Vigo: He's still just as good as anyone else. Well, excellent, but not Eduardo Camavinga, who still has those of Aurelien Choameny, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham. “I always tell Vinny to run into space and the ball will come,” he said in Balidos, and it's true. if He is the one who has it. Only he could have played a pass. Only he would have seen it. When the game fell behind Madrid, there was no other player they would have rather called up. “He is a unique figure in football and in our team,” said Ancelotti.

And 60 years after Puskas came on as a substitute and lost to Seville, in the legendary final game that ended in defeat after more time and expectations than anyone could have imagined, Modric is still unsure of either fate. I was sure it wouldn't happen to me. Grab a new game and secure a new victory. “Luka changed the game,” said Ancelotti. “He came on in a very difficult moment and brought control. He always helps us because he has great qualities. We are lucky to have him.”