An Italian goal in the 98th minute sealed Croatia's fate at the European Championship in Germany. "We didn't deserve to concede that equalizer", complains Croatia superstar Luka Modric.
25.06.2024, 10:56
25.06.2024, 14:17
SDA
Modric! It could have been his day. The Real Madrid midfielder put the Croatians ahead in the 55th minute to become the oldest goalscorer at a European Championship at the age of 38 years and 289 days. 31 seconds earlier, his emotional world had been quite different when he failed to beat Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a penalty.
Modric was substituted after 80 minutes. The trembling and anxiety began on the Croatian side. The Croatians actually conceded the equalizer in the 98th minute. Immediately afterwards, the referee blew the final whistle.
"Football is brutal sometimes," said Modric in his initial disappointment. "And today the game was brutal for us. But it is what it is. It pains me, especially for our fans, that it won't be enough to progress."
And what are Modric's plans? All the statements after the game about his future didn't help much. "I'm not going to stop right away. I'm going to play for a while longer. How long, I don't know yet." However, it was unclear whether the captain was talking about continuing in the national team or continuing at club level. His contract with Real Madrid expires at the end of June. He won the Champions League six times with the Whites and has played 178 international matches with Croatia to date, but has not won a title.
The ageing Croatian team struggled badly in the last few days in Germany, even before the late Italian equalizer. "We conceded the equalizer against Albania in stoppage time, and now against Italy again," summed up national coach Zlatko Dalic. "Everything went against us at this tournament. We missed two penalties and conceded two goals in injury time. I can't blame my players. It just wasn't our tournament."
Dalic, on the other hand, was critical of the refereeing team. "I would like to say that eight minutes today (in the match against Italy, ed.) were in no way justified. There were no stoppages in play and not that many fouls. It annoys me that Croatia is not respected and recognized. The game lasted far too long."
