ZAGREB: Croatia will hope Real Madrid star Luka Modric can carry the nation to the World Cup finals as they go into the first leg of a tricky play-off with Greece on Thursday (Friday in Manila). The 32-year-old captain has faced a tumultuous year, with his shining reputation tarnished by a scandal in June over allegedly false testimony he gave at a major corruption trial. But anger from the fans appeared to be swiftly forgotten after his brilliant performance in the 2-0 victory against Ukraine in Kiev in October, which secured Croatia a play-off place. The national team now hopes the midfielder will be at his best to help them beat the 2004 European champions and secure a place in the tournament in Russia. Modric is the biggest star Croatia has produced since 1998, when they surprisingly reached the World Cup semi-finals, losing to eventual winners France. In October, Modric was named, for the third time, to the FIFA FIFPro team selected by thousands of professional players. In 2015, he became the first Croatian voted on to the FIFPro XI. Modric grew up during Croatia’s 1990s independence war as a refugee in Zadar on the Adriatic coast. There he played…