Real Madrid International Watch: Two Club Legends Reunited

With the club season now over, for Real Madrid and indeed for everyone, attention is fully on this summer's FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. 

Ahead of the tournament beginning, every nation will play in two warm up friendlies to ramp up the preparation and to keep everybody on their toes before the big thing kicks off. 

One friendly played on Tuesday afternoon saw two Real Madrid legends - of past and present - reunited on the pitch. Indeed, as Thibaut Courtois and Luka Modric came up against each other when Belgium and Croatia locked horns in Rijeka. 

Both players were named in the starting XI by their respective managers. Courtois was making his 108th appearance for Belgium, whilst Modric won his 197th cap for Croatia. If the Real Madrid legend plays in their final friendly against Slovenia, then he will be set to win cap 200 on match day two of the World Cup against Panama. 

As for the game itself, Belgium emerged 2-0 victors, with Courtois playing the 90 minutes and keeping a clean sheet. During the game, he had one save to make, which actually came from Modric himself, as he dived full stretch to keep out a solid shot from just inside the box. The 40-year old played 58 minutes of the game.

Afterwards, the goalkeeper was full of praise for his former Los Blancos team mate: "Luka is special. He's a huge role model for many players. The way he influences his team, keeps winning, and continues to improve, even at his age, he's an incredible person and an incredible player."

Some very nice words. The two had a very successful seven years together at Real Madrid, winning three La Liga titles and two UEFA Champions League titles together, alongside a few other trophies. 

As far as Premier League signings go, those two are right up there with the very best possible, both individually and collectively. Let's hope the pending signing of Ibrahima Konate from Liverpool will be even a quarter as successful as those were, and in the case of Courtois, still are. 

As for the 34-year old and his Belgium side, they will face Tunisia in their final warm up game, this Saturday at 15:00 CET. This will give them good prep for the tournament, as they will face another North African side in Egypt for their first game of the World Cup.