For many years, Luka Modric has been dominating international football. It is all over, at least as a national team player for Croatia. Luka Modric has turned 38, but is still one of football’s most elegant players. This summer, the eternal midfield general took part in his fifth European Championship. An era could be over for captain Luka Modric and the rest of Croatia’s second, golden generation.

Ever since Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian national football team has been a unit to be reckoned with. At home in Croatia, the country’s golden generation, the players who formed the foundation of the national team in the first years after the breakaway from Yugoslavia, are still spoken of with pathos. Great players such as Prosinečki, Boban, Suker and Jarni contributed to the success of the Croatian national team, with the third place in the World Cup in France 1998 being the definite highlight. The star team from 1998 is long gone, but despite the fact that Croatia has no more than four million inhabitants, the country has continued to produce very good footballers.