Modric, between merit from the Argentine and harsh criticism of the referee: “I can’t believe he took that penalty”

She’s at her last dance, but she’ll have to go for the consolation prize. Luca Modric, aged 37, was left without his second consecutive final after the defeat that gave him the Argentina national team at the Lusail stadium. And the Real Madrid midfielder, Ballon d’Or winner in 2018 when he was runners-up in Russia, acknowledged the merit of the Albiceleste but harshly accused the Italian referee Daniele Orsato, for the penalty that paved the way for the execution of Lionel Messi.

“We had a good time, controlling the game and that corner that the referee didn’t give us and the penalty, which wasn’t for me, changes everything. The Argentine shoots and collides with our goalkeeper, it goes for him, I can’t I think he called that penalty. That changes the game a bit. But we can’t change that, we have to recover and try to win the next game.”indicated.

And completed: “Argentina was a good winner of the match, they were better, they deserved to win, but these things have to be mentioned, I usually don’t do them, but today they have to. I don’t like talking about referees, but this is one of the worst. I don’t have good memories of him. It is a disaster. For me it was not criminal”.

For Modric, playing for third place next Saturday “is not a punishment”, because “playing for Croatia is never a punishment”. “We had a great World Cup and now bronze is at stake and we have to prepare ourselves, because if we achieve it, it’s also a great success”, he confided.

endless applause

Modric left the field in the 81st minute, the substitution mark rose to “10” and the almost 90,000 souls of Lusail paid tribute to him.

Endless applause, because the 37-year-old Croatian, who is undoubtedly experiencing his last World Cup, will not be able to play the second consecutive decisive match. He remained at the gates after signing the feat of beating Brazil in the quarterfinals, after forcing yet another penalty to the limit.

It couldn’t be this time. Argentina didn’t give them a chance to get into the game and Modric had a dismal penultimate night. The last one will be on Saturday, when Croatia play the third-place match against the other semi-final losers France and Morocco.

It all started against Argentina and it could end against the Albiceleste. On March 1, 2006 he made his debut for the Croatian national team in a duel against Albiceleste, at the age of 21 and without any suspicion of the star that he was going to be him. Far from the brilliance of other world greats, Modric has forged a reputation without glitter but with the respect of the entire football world. The one that showed the stadium on its way out.

Behind him with Croatia, Modric played in four World Cups and became the undisputed leader of his generation of footballers, who reached the final in Russia overcoming other big favourites.

Without progressing through the group stage in their first two appearances, Real Madrid’s mentorship made a decisive leap in 2018, when he scored his only two goals and as Croatia defeated major nations to reach the final against France, who imposed their superiority and won 4-2.

Far from fading his brilliance, the years have proved that Modric is incombustible. Five Champions League wins with Real Madrid are another sign of his durability.

Another is that with the semi-final against Argentina he became the fourth player of the story that does it in six parts surpassing 37 years later Nilton Santos from Brazil in 1962, Dino Zoff from Italy in 1982 e peter shilton of England in 1990.

Record holder for World Cup matches played for Croatia (17) and also the one who has played the most duels in major tournaments (30).

With his small stature, his 70s hairdo and his deep blue eyes, Modric made the history of the World Cup, even though he didn’t get the prize he was looking for, the ultimate triumph.

His precise passes are already part of the football image and some of them are in the history of the World Cup. His outside of the foot is legendary.

Meanwhile, Modric still has dates. The Croatian can play the game for third place in the World Cup and has not said that, for now, he will leave a team classified in the Final Four of the League of Nations.

With information from EFE