World Cup 2018: Luka Modric Backed For Golden Ball Award By Teammate

Croatia midfielder and captain Luka Modric deserves to be in contention for the World Cup's Golden Ball award according to teammate Mario Mandzukic.

Modric has played a starring role for Croatia in the World Cup so far, helping them reach the semifinals of the competition for the first time since 1998 after a nail-biting penalty shootout win over hosts Russia last week.

The Real Madrid man will now face some familiar foes from his time at Tottenham Hotspur in the form of England in the last four on Wednesday, where the winners will face one of France or Belgium in the final.

The Golden Ball, won by Lionel Messi in 2014, is the award given to the best player in the World Cup and Croatia striker Mandzukic believes his teammate should definitely be a frontrunner due to his performances in Russia so far.

"I've known Luka for a number of years, not only from the national team," Mandzukic told reporters, as per FourFourTwo. "He deserves all the accolades he gets, from the media and public."

"He's worked very hard to get to this point, he's our captain and leader and if the team manages a great result and he gets the Golden Ball, he would deserve it."

There have even been calls for Modric to win the Ballon d'Or award, given to the best player in a calendar year.

The award has been dominated by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo the last 10 years, with the duo winning it five teams each in that period.

But if Croatia go on to win the World Cup, Modric has a serious case for the award. He was also a key factor in Madrid's third consecutive Champions League victory in May and has slowly cemented himself as the best midfielder in the world in recent years.

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren stated during the World Cup group stage that Modric may have won it already if he was from a bigger country.

"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 stated.

"Because we are a smaller country, he does get less attention than he deserves. All football lovers know Modric is an incredible player. He is one of the best in the world right now."

However, the 32-year-old for now is only bothered about winning the World Cup rather than caring about individual awards.

"The Ballon d'Or? I don't think about it at all," Modric said. "The most important for me is my team winning the World Cup. We have already achieved something, but we can do even better."

"Honestly, individual awards are not important for me. Such awards are for the contribution you've made. We want to bring a medal home and see how it shines."

Croatia take on England on Wednesday at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.