"I didn't answer 'France Football's call, then I rang them and started crying"

The man who ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi's Ballon D'or dominance was in a hotel in London when he received the news: "I was in the room with my wife and I saw the call, but I did not answer."

"I told my wife that the head of 'France Football' had called me. 'What should I do?, I asked," he reveals in an interview given to 'France Football' and published the day after the list of nominees was announced for the 2019 award, in which he is not on the list. 

Modric tried to keep his calm and was waiting for various minutes thinking in what his response would be when he finally spoke to him. "I was very nervous and I did not want to rush to ring him back. I prepared the response I was going to give. I later called and they said I had won."

"It was an unbelievable feeling and I started crying. It was a marvellous moment. I'll never forget it. I wasn't 100% sure what was happening," the Croat added. Modric helped Real Madrid lift the Champions League and helped Croatia reach the final of the World Cup. 

This season, Modric did not get into the list of 30 nominees. The Croat is the only winner of a Ballon D'or not to been in the running again the following year. 

His absence is, amongst other reasons, because of the poor season Real Madrid had in 2018-19. In fact, only two Real players have made the cut (Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard) although the Belgian is there due to his performances with Chelsea.