Goodbye Luka Modric? This was tournament football at its most brutal

Appearance one came in March 2006 in a friendly against Argentina in Switzerland. Tony Blair was the UK Prime Minister, George W. Bush the president of the United States, Var was just a region in southern France and Lamine Yamal didn’t exist.

Appearance 178 came against Italy in Leipzig, Germany. If it is to be his last, it was not a fitting finale for Luka Modric; the wily, entrancing schemer who has served Croatia with such distinction for almost two decades. In European men’s football, only Sergio Ramos (180) and Cristiano Ronaldo (209 and counting) have played more times for their country.

Modric’s journey with Croatia has approached fairytale proportions: a World Cup final in 2018, an improbable semi-final in 2022, a Nations League final in 2023. In terms of trophies, you might say they fell short of immortality but for a country with a population 3.8 million, Modric & Co are already there. Three medals in six years, as manager Zlatko Dalic has regularly pointed out in the past week.

It has been glorious — and the highs only made Tuesday night’s low even more difficult to stomach for a teary Modric and 25,000 inconsolable Croatians in the stadium.

Croatia’s fate has not quite been sealed just yet but it will take a miracle for them to reach the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams with just two meagre points to their name.

You would be hard pressed to conjure up a more heartbreaking finale for Modric than his and Croatia’s place in the knockout stage brutally extinguished by a 98th-minute equaliser from Mattia Zaccagni.

Croatia had been blown away by Spain, they were hapless against Albania, but here against Italy they looked to have finally got it right when it mattered most, aided by a mad half-minute in which Modric missed a penalty (or rather, saw it brilliantly saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma)…

Croatia saw his penalty saved (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

…but then, 33 seconds later, put Croatia in front.

Some players would lose their heads after spurning such a golden opportunity from 12 yards, or at the very least lose concentration. Modric immediately put his pain and guilt to one side, watched Josip Stanisic dance past an Italy player to get Croatia back on the attack, asked for the ball himself but, on seeing it played wide right to Luka Sucic, darted into the penalty area knowing a cross was imminent. He sensed amends could be instantly made.

Modric made amends by putting Croatia ahead (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

Only Ante Budimir had the same idea to run into the box and he diverted Sucic’s whipped cross towards goal, only for Donnarumma to produce another brilliant save. But there was Modric, watching, anticipating, alive to the loose ball to turn in into the net. Instant redemption.

The celebration, in front of thousands of chest-beating, flare-brandishing Croatians, was an outpouring of raw, unfiltered emotion. Football at its very best. Modric’s creaky legs gave way as he slipped onto his back and covered his face to hide the tears as his team-mates engulfed and smothered him.

(Tullio Puglia – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

This was his 26th international goal (his first also came against Italy), his first in a major tournament since the decisive group game against Scotland at Euro 2020, and one of his most important.

Contrast that with the 98th minute, possibly the last minute of Croatian international football with Modric as a player. He had been substituted in the 80th with Dalic wanting fresh legs (“Luka had given everything,” Dalic said after the match).

Modric was so frantically desperate for the full-time whistle, he instinctively bit his shirt to try and cope with the unbearable tension.

Zaccagni’s goal was as dramatic as it was brilliant. Italian staff and substitutes streamed onto the pitch in wild celebration. Croatia’s players needed the ground to stop them from falling forever.

Modric leaned back in his chair, put his hand to his mouth and lamentably shook his head.

Hopelessness evolved into anger as he made a beeline for the referee at full-time, perhaps to echo his manager’s criticism of the eight minutes of added time. (Dalic later barbed that if Spain or Germany had been in Croatia’s position, the game would have been shorter.)

Then, as the Italians celebrated and Croatia’s players picked themselves up off the floor before standing in a solemn line in front of their fans, hands on hips, in silence, it was announced that Modric was man of the match.

This will have been decided by competition organisers UEFA before Zaccagni’s penultimate kick of the game. It meant Modric had to endure a trophy presentation and a series of interviews immediately after one of the most wounding moments of his entire career.

The man-of-the -match trophy picture is the epitome of speaking a thousand words. Modric looks like a puppy who has just been told his owners have left him forever — but don’t worry Fido, have a pat on the head.

Twenty-six minutes after Zaccagni broke his heart in two, Modric was being applauded into a press conference. He sighed and rested his face in his hand as he dutifully answered questions from the assembled journalists.

Modric had to conduct a series of post-match interviews (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

“Football was merciless tonight,” he mourned. “It’s hard when you lose like this to find the words to describe how you feel.

“I’d also like to keep playing forever but there’ll probably come a time when I have to hang up my boots. I’ll keep playing on but I don’t know for how much longer.”

He’ll be back with Real Madrid having agreed a one-year contract extension but international football? That may be that if Croatia don’t squeak through. Modric will turn 41 in the year of the 2026 World Cup and there are growing calls back home that an ageing team needs a reset.

He can still run a top level game from midfield, he can still press, still zip around with the enthusiasm of a teenager, but lasting 90 minutes is becoming rarer and he was a scarce starter for Madrid last season. Modric won’t be retired by his manager or by Croatia, but he may feel it is time to go.

Whether he does or not, this, should there be no favours from the other groups, will sting for some time.

Tournament football at its most emotional, its most brutal. Modric, cap number 178, and one that will linger for all the wrong reasons.

(Top photo: Boris Streubel/UEFA via Getty Images)