ST PETERSBURG: Croatia defender Dejan Lovren believes Luka Modric never gets the credit he deserves and would win the Ballon d’Or if he played for Spain or Germany.

Modric has been one of the stars of the World Cup so far, scoring in each of his opening two games as Croatia have stormed to the top of Group ‘D’.

His second strike, a superb, bending effort from 25 yards, helped them to a 3-0 victory over Argentina and compounded the misery for Lionel Messi, a five-time winner of football’s most prestigious individual prize.

Modric has never even made the top three.

“Modric would probably be getting more attention than he is right now if he was a German or Spanish player. He would maybe even be a Ballon d’Or winner.” Lovren said on Sunday. “But because we are a smaller country, he does get less attention than he deserves. We are all football lovers and we know Modric is an incredible player.”

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...