Luka Modric: "The World Cup left me completely exhausted"
"It hasn't been easy starting again with Real Madrid after all of the effort and emotion of the World Cup in Russia", the Croatian midfielder told 'FIFPro'.
Luka Modric, who pipped Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah to The Best award earlier this week, gave an interview to the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) in which he admitted that he has been finding it hard to adjust to life with Real Madrid following Croatia's successes at the World Cup. "It hasn't been easy recovering from all of the emotion we went through in Russia", Modric explained. "“When we arrived in Croatia we saw all these people, we were more than surprised. From the airport to the main square we drove on an open-top bus for seven hours… and we didn’t even feel it. We thought we had been there for half an hour. It was so emotional to share all of that joy with our people. I only had three weeks of what you could call ‘holidays’ – that’s the least time I’ve had off since I started playing football. The first we spend just celebrating! That first day in Zagreb, then after that, the rest of us were celebrating in our own home towns".
Time needed to return to normal
During the interview, which will be published in full in the next few days, Modric added that he has found it a struggle to readjust with Real Madrid after the emotional rollercoaster ride in Russia. "It was not easy to start again – after all of the emotional moments we went through, we were completely drained. So I needed time to get back to my best level. Now, I just need more games to get back to my best but it’s not easy. 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. Now I’m getting better with every day and the new season has started, we need to forget about it and concentrate on what is expected of us this season”.
