Champions show themselves even in moments like these. At the end of yesterday’s training session at Milanello, the team stopped for a moment to celebrate Luka Modric’s 40th birthday. Jokingly, he said the number chosen for the candles (40, of course) was wrong.
Unfortunately for football, it is not, because at this stage the Croatian has fewer years left in his career. Yet his mentality and hunger to win and perform well seem unaffected, and at this pace, who knows how much longer the 2018 Ballon d’Or can go on.
The celebrations and smiles were fine, but Luka Modric did not lose sight of his goal for even a second. La Gazzetta dello Sport underlined this again this morning. Playing on the idea of “Fever at 40” for Milan’s number 14, the paper headlined:
"Surprise party and Modric asks ‘A trophy as a gift’."
