The captain of Croatia considered that his team is ready to beat Argentina in the semifinals
He also stressed that his team shows “a lot of confidence” when they have to play an extra time or face a penalty shootout.
Luka Modric, leader of the Croatian national team, He considered this Sunday that his team is “prepared” to beat Argentina in the semifinals of the World Cup in Qatar and advanced that they will give “everything” on Tuesday, although they are aware that they will have “a lot of difficulties” to stop players of the stature of Leo Messi.
“I want to play another semifinal against a big team, that’s what I’m looking forward to, not just against one player. Of course Leo is very big, he is their best player, and we are going to have a lot of difficulties to stop him, but we are prepared and we are going to give it our all. I hope it’s enough to be in the final,” he replied in an interview with Televisión Española.
He explained that they have no problem with not counting on them for these types of matches. “Everyone looks more for the big countries, as we are a small country, nobody takes us into account, but we have no problem with this, that others are the favorites and we are in the shadows. That is something from outside, that we cannot control. We can only compete to the maximum, give everything and this is what is our forte”, he added.
“Nobody talks about us -he continued- but I have seen a very good, mature team, with young people who have brought new quality and energy. Since the Euro Cup there is a fact that I did not know, that in 22 games we have only lost one, it is something impressive, we have played many good games and that also says a lot about us. I was confident that we could do something. After four years, being in the semis is something very big.”
The Real Madrid footballer also stressed that his team shows “a lot of confidence” when they have to play extra time or face a penalty shootout. “When those moments arrive we are demonstrating a very strong mind, which is necessary. We have faith that everything will turn out well, although it is not easy to get to this moment,” she said.
“We would like to finish (the matches) earlier, not go to penalties but we are ready for everyone to win”, warned the Croatian.
Finally, he was surprised by the elimination of Spain. “You always expect more from them, that they reach the semifinals or more, because they have a good teamThey had a very good coach, but this is football and you can see that it’s not easy to beat anyone today, you have to be one hundred percent and not even this guarantees you, because everything is more and more even,” he concluded.