‘Football was merciless with us’ – Luka Modric after Italy’s late goal denies Croatia knockout place

Luka Modric admits he was heartbroken to see Italy equalise late on against his Croatia side to deny them a guaranteed place in the knockout stages of Euro 2024.

Modric’s goal moments after missing a penalty looked as though it would send his side through but Croatia’s chances of making it through to the knockout stage of the competition now look extremely slim after substitute Mattia Zaccagni’s last gasp equaliser.

It ensured Italy finished second over Croatia in Group B, which means Croatia sit third on two points and require England to beat Slovenia by at least three goals and several other sides lose to stand a chance of making it through.

After the game, Modric said: “We kept battling right until the end but unfortunately football was merciless with us tonight, it was cruel. Above all today but also in our other most recent match when we conceded two late goals.

“But that’s part and parcel of football. Often it gives you plenty of smiles but on other occasions it makes you very sad as it did today.

“It’s hard to describe the words for how you feel in terms of how I feel, my team-mates feel and what the fans are going through.

“Of course we need to bounce back but that’s the way it is and as I said earlier, perhaps it’s unfair because we all really fought for Croatia right from the first whistle until the last and the result is what it is.

“Football isn’t always kind and the football gods don’t always necessarily smile on us but we should be proud of the way that we represented our country.”

The Real Madrid midfielder, 38, was also paid a special tribute by an Italian journalist during his press conference.

Click to comment