Croatia captain, Luka Modric, has described his side’s 7-0 defeat to England in the Nations League as a “catastrophic night”, admitting that he felt ashamed of their performance.
The AC Milan midfielder, who was making his 205th appearance for Croatia, said it was the first time in his 20-year international career that he had experienced such an emotion after a match.
“You can’t play football like that… we looked like we had four or five players less,” Modric said. “It is difficult to find an explanation for such a performance without duels, fouls, aggressiveness, togetherness.”
“I’ve been here for 20 years, but for the first time I feel ashamed after a game.”
England had already taken a commanding 5-0 lead by the time Modric was substituted in the 57th minute.
Harry Kane scored twice, while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka also found the net before the break.
Saka added his second after Modric had left the pitch, while Morgan Rogers completed the rout as England secured a remarkable 7-0 victory in Rijeka.
Modric admitted that Croatia’s heavy defeat was unacceptable, particularly because of the reputation the team had built over the years.
“You can lose, or play against an opponent who is better – and they are right now,” he said. “But in any case, losing like this and squandering the reputation we’ve built over the years is unacceptable… [it was a] catastrophic night [for Croatia].”
Croatia had opened their Nations League campaign with a 2-1 away victory over the Czech Republic before suffering a 4-1 defeat against Spain.
The loss to England leaves them third in the group and facing a battle to remain in the top tier.
Modric urged his teammates to recover quickly ahead of their next match against Spain in Split on Tuesday.
“We need to pull ourselves together, stay together because a new difficult game awaits us,” he said.
“We have to show our true colours, that there is defiance and pride in us, desire, willingness, togetherness, these things cannot be lost overnight.”
