Modric left furious after ‘unacceptable’ 7-0 Croatia defeat: “I’m so ashamed”

Luka Modric has admitted that he feels ‘ashamed’ at the way Croatia collapsed in their 7-0 defeat against England.

Games between England and Croatia have historically been quite tight affairs, but that was not the case in Rijeka last night. Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka each scored a brace while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers all netted in a seven-goal rout.

After breaking the record to become Croatia’s oldest ever goal scorer earlier in the current break, Modric played just 56 minutes last night before being withdrawn by head coach Slaven Bilic, who perhaps read the game situation and preserved him.

Following the full-time whistle, the Milan midfielder spoke to Sportske Novosti and revealed the pain that he feels after what was one of the heaviest defeats the national team have suffered. MilanNews relayed his words.

“It’s hard to explain a performance like that, without fouls, aggression, or team spirit… I’ve been here for 20 years, but for the first time, I’m ashamed after a match!” he said.

“You can lose, there are those who are stronger at that moment, but to lose like this and ruin the reputation we’ve earned over the years is unacceptable! I’m so ashamed. You can’t play football like this.

“If you play with two players less, you can’t play like this, and we looked like we were four or five players down! It was a catastrophic night. We shouldn’t point fingers and look for the culprit, but we must be united in this.

“We recovered from difficult situations, we lost badly, but I’ve never had a feeling like this after a match like this in the national team.”