ZAGREB, July 19 -- It is a hot and sunny day in Zadar, Croatia. Luckily, the old city lies on the Adriatic Sea, with beautiful beaches and crystal-clear water. Tens of thousands of tourists visit the seaside. They lie on the city's beaches, sunbathing and enjoying the sun.

At the same time, around a hundred boys are squeezing onto the green field of Zadar's football club in the midday sun. They don't mind the heat because they are here to greet their heroes, and they are ready to wait for hours if necessary. The children are all training here at the club that has produced some of the best players in the world.

One of them is Luka Modric, captain of the Croatian national team, who just a few days ago, played in the World Cup final. Croatia lost the game, but Modric won the Golden Ball awarded to the World Cup's best player. Now, he has returned to his hometown Zadar and the children who play football here have a chance to meet him.

"Luka Modric is the best. I can't believe I will meet him in person. I will ask him to sign me this ball," a 10-year-old boy eagerly told Xinhua.

Luka Modric was not the only player there on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, Sime Vrsaljko, and Dominik Livakovic, along with Luka Modric are all, as they say here, "Zadar's children". They started playing football in Zadar and ended up at Real Madrid, Monaco and Atletico Madrid.

For a city with just 170,000 citizens, this is remarkable. As remarkable as the fact that Croatia, a country of around 4.1 million people, has reached the World Cup final. It is the smallest country to do so since Uruguay in 1950.

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