A double helping of Cruijff at De Kuip tonight: De Jong against Modric

• Jesse Wieten

  Dutch national team editor

Infinitely kicking against a wall. It was one of Johan Cruijff’s wise lessons to better control the ball.

Some kids you don’t have to explain that. They do it of their own accord. Frenkie de Jong did it against the wall of the neighbor’s garage behind his parental home in Beatrixstraat in Arkel. Luka Modric did it countless times against a hotel wall in the Croatian coastal town of Zadar, during the war in Yugoslavia.

To masters of the ball they grew. Tonight, De Jong and Modric will meet in the Nations League semifinals with the Netherlands and Croatia. It is their first confrontation at country level. The first encounter was in early 2019 in the eighth finals of the Champions League, Ajax against Real Madrid.

De Jong left Modric dejected at the Bernabéu. A bewildered look from the Croatian was captured on camera. A record for eternity. The Dutchman proudly posted the photo on his Instagram. “Without further intentions though,” he added.

It had something of a changing of the guard, but nothing could be further from the truth. De Jong may have then taken the next steps in his career at FC Barcelona, but Modric still did not budge at Real Madrid.

Eleven times they faced each other in El Clásico: four times De Jong won, including the last three in 2023, once it was a draw and six times Modric won.

“He is a great player,” De Jong says now. “Truly a legend, already, while he’s still playing. A super nice player to watch, because of his style and his outstanding technique.”

Watch below to see what Frenkie de Jong has to say about Luka Modric:

Conversely, the admiration is equally high. “For me, Frenkie is absolutely the best Dutch player,” says Modric. “The game starts with him. It’s always a pleasure to play against him. He is young, has talent and is a good boy. A top player, one of the players I like to watch. He has something special.”

On top scorer lists you don’t come across them. Modric and De Jong hardly score at all. With four goals in La Liga, the Croatian in his old age – he is 37 – is even more productive than De Jong with his two goals. The overall impact on an eleven, on the pace of the team, the rhythm, that’s what both excel at and that’s harder to express in numbers.

Just as Cruijff also determined the play of an entire team. The Cruijff of the Balkans is not called Modric for nothing. Watch and compare. A touch of Cruijff for sure. It is a comparison that by now has been made almost more often than the times Modric kicked the ball against that hotel wall as a child.

De Jong can talk about it. Full-page, he was in De Telegraaf in 2018, in a photo symbiosis with the Maestro. “I don’t think you can compare anyone to Cruijff,” De Jong responded at the time. “Not me anyway. He was very different from the rest. I don’t have that level and never will. And there’s no shame in that.”

“I am often compared to him because of my looks and maybe because of my game,” Modric said. “When I hear those kinds of comparisons, I think it’s quite an honor. It makes me very proud. He is one of the greatest players in history.”

Watch what Luka Modric has to say about Johan Cruijff and Frenkie de Jong below:.

When Cruijff passed away on March 24, 2016, De Jong played in the Dutch national team’s under-19 European Championship qualifier against Ukraine in Groesbeek. He came into the team with jersey number 14 as a substitute for Laros Duarte. Far removed still from a brilliant career at the top.

Modric was then on the eve of his first appearance as Croatia’s captain against Hungary in Budapest. From the training camp, he posted on social media a photo of himself wearing an Orange shirt with number 14 and the text, “A shirt like a precious gift, a number like the name of a legend. A soccer genius. RIP JC.”

A shirt like Cruijff wore at the 1974 World Cup. Modric had received it from a fan after his debut for Croatia as number 14 in a practice match against Argentina on March 1, 2006 in Basel (3-2 win). It is a shirt like De Jong’s father John, a big fan of Cruijff, usually wears at matches of the Dutch national team.

From number 14, Modric became his country’s number 10. And, as De Jong put it: a living legend. Following Cruijff in 1971, 1973 and 1974, among others, Modric was awarded the Ballon d’Or as best footballer of the year in 2018. De Jong’s best ranking in this election was 11th place in 2019.

A season full of awards often helps for a higher ranking. In that respect, De Jong scored well this season, with the Spanish title in his pocket. And the Nations League as the next target. “We know it’s not an EC or World Cup, but we want to take a prize,” De Jong said.

For Modric, the Nations League may be his last chance for a prize with Croatia. With his country he already finished second at the 2018 World Cup and in Qatar he captured a bronze with the Croats. It will be a beautiful duel in De Kuip, De Jong against Modric, the Netherlands against Croatia. A bit of Clásico, a bit of Cruijff.