One of the most talented midfield orchestrators currently playing the game, Luka Modrić was outstanding for Croatia at UEFA EURO 2008 and will be looking to provide an encore in Poland and Ukraine. He has spent the past four years enhancing his stature with Tottenham Hotspur FC, where he is now a highly-prized asset.

• Signed for Dinamo Zagreb as a youth but played in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Zrinjski and helped provincial outfit Inter Zaprešić finish runners-up in the Croatian top flight before rejoining the club in 2005.

• Won the Croatian title in all three of his seasons at Dinamo, including a runaway victory in 2007/08 – and a second successive domestic double − by a 28-point margin.

• A Croatian youth and Under-21 international, he made his senior debut in a prestigious 3-2 win against Argentina in Basel on 1 March 2006; played twice as a substitute at that year's FIFA World Cup and scored his maiden goal against Italy in the Azzurri's first match as world champions.

• An ever-present during Croatia's UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying campaign under Slaven Bilić, his contributions for club and country earned him the title of 2007 Croatian league player of the year and a club record-equalling €21m transfer to Tottenham prior to the UEFA European Championship finals, where he excelled, earning inclusion in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

• Adapted slowly but surely to English football, shrugging off persistent injury problems to become the chief creative force in Harry Redknapp's team as they qualified for the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League and, in the summer, signing a new six-year contract.

• Earned his 50th cap during a 2-0 defeat by Greece in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.

UEFA honours
UEFA EURO 2008: Team of the Tournament