Modrić: “This is a blueprint and an indication of how we need to play”

He opened by saying:

“It’s a shame we lost today. I think we deserved more from this game, at the very least not to lose, if not to win, because we had enough chances, especially in the first half. We played phenomenally and could have been two goals ahead. Unfortunately, when you don’t take your chances against teams like this, they punish you from practically half-chances because they have tremendous quality and confidence. When you go 40 games without losing, everything just falls into place. That’s the kind of form they are in at the moment, where everything goes their way. When we were down to ten players, it became even more difficult. If that hadn’t happened, we certainly wouldn’t have lost, but it is what it is. It’s a shame, but the feeling, the approach and the game itself were much better than last time. This is a blueprint and an indication of how we need to play and how we need to approach this shirt.”

On the feeling after the game...

“After a game like this, the feeling is certainly better. We wanted more in terms of the result, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. The coach has emphasised that our goal in this cycle and in the Nations League is to give as many players as possible a chance and to remain in the top seeding group for the European Championship qualifiers, which is extremely important because it would give us a more favourable group. That was the goal and the plan. We have two more games to secure at least third place, which would give us seeded status in the qualifiers.”

On England and Spain...

“We wanted to have more points on the board, but these were difficult games. We have to be realistic and honest: at the moment, England and Spain are ahead of us, but that doesn’t mean anything. This game shows that we still have quality and togetherness and that this national team can bring a lot of joy to Croatia, just as we have done in the past. We learned lessons from the previous game, and I hope we will learn from this one too and continue to improve.”

On support...

“We learned lessons from the previous game, and I hope we will learn from this one too, so that we can only keep improving. We need support because it’s easy to support us when we are winning, when we finish second or third, when we reach finals. Then everything is easy. But in moments like these, when we need support the most — all of us and the coach, who has only just arrived, is new, trying out players, looking for solutions — it’s not easy to come in after everything we achieved with coach Dalić. We all need support and more positivity. Because there aren’t many of us, in general in our country, not just in football. We need to stand together more, be more positive, because there aren’t many of us. And when we all stick together and everything is positive, it’s better and easier for everyone. That’s what we would like to see. I hope it will be that way.”

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