Modric not done for Croatia after 'brutal' Italy game
12 hours ago, Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens stated on their blog.
Luka Modric Vows To Continue After 'brutal' Italy Match
Did this Euro event push the Croatia team too far?
Alejandro Moreno is curious about which players will take on leadership roles for Croatia as the current group, led by Luka Modric, get closer to the end of their time with the national team.
On June 24, 2024, at 11:16 PM
The leader of the Croatia team, Luka Modric, announced that he will keep playing in the European Championship even though it is very likely that his team will be eliminated. This decision came after Croatia gave up a late goal in a 1-1 tie with Italy in their last Group B match on Monday.
Modric, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, scored for his team shortly after missing a penalty. However, he was surprised when he was substituted just before Italy's Mattia Zaccagni scored the equalizer in stoppage time with the final kick of the game.
Italy's draw secured their spot in the round of 16, while Croatia finished third in Group B with only two points. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Croatia's points will be enough to secure them one of the spots reserved for the top four third-placed teams.
Even though he felt let down, Modric expressed his desire to continue playing, even after participating in 178 international matches since he first started in 2006. His goal also earned him the title of being the oldest scorer ever at a Euro.
"I want to continue playing for as long as possible, but eventually I will have to retire. I will keep playing as long as I can, but I am unsure of how much longer that will be," said the midfielder, who is 38 years old, to the press.
Modric, the veteran Real Madrid player, was resigned in his assessment of the game.
"He expressed feeling a lot of pressure," he stated. "We fought hard until the very end but, sadly, football was not in our favor tonight. It was harsh especially today, but also in our previous game [a 2-2 tie with Albania] when we also let in a late goal.
"That's just how football goes sometimes. It can bring joy and happiness, but it can also bring disappointment and sadness, like it did today when we lost in such a heartbreaking way."
Losing in this manner makes it difficult to express my emotions. It is important for us to recover and move forward, even though it is tough.
As previously mentioned, it may be seen as unjust because we all gave our best for Croatia from the beginning to the end of the game, yet the outcome remained the same.
The soccer gods may not always be in our favor, but we should take pride in how we represented our country during tonight's match.
The coach of Croatia, Zlatko Dalic, mentioned that the extra eight minutes added to the game were not needed and caused his players to become anxious towards the end.
Dalic mentioned that there weren't many stoppages or fouls during the game. However, he expressed disappointment in conceding a goal in the 98th minute. He acknowledged that losing is a common aspect of football and accepted it as part of the game.
The article sourced its information from Reuters.
