The madridista debuted with the national team with a victory against the albiceleste with Leo as his rival
In their only meeting in an official match, at Russia 2018, the midfielder scored one of the goals in the win (0-3)
The confrontation against the Argentine team this Tuesday will undoubtedly have a special connotation for the captain of the Croatian team, Luka modric. The Real Madrid midfielder’s career with Croatia has always been closely linked to the Albiceleste and his contemporary Leo Messi. It will be the third confrontation between the two with their respective teams, although Modric keeps very special memories of the first of those duels, which coincided with his debut as a full international.
Sixteen years have passed since that first face to face between two players who have ended up becoming symbols of their respective teams. Croatia and Argentina met on March 1, 2006 in a friendly match at the St. Jakob Park stadium in Basel that helped both teams begin preparing for the World Cup in Germany. Messi and Modric They were headlines that day. The Croatian was 20 years old and at that time he was a young promise for Dinamo Zagreb. Croatia won 3-2 and Messi scored one of the goals for the albiceleste. Curiously, that game saw him sitting on the bench for substitutes Lionel Scaloni, the current Argentine coach.
WORLD FOURTH
16 years later Modric He is playing his fourth World Cup and aspires to improve on the runner-up position achieved four years ago in Russia. He wears the captain’s armband and is indisputable in the scheme of the coach of the ‘vatreni’ team, Zlatko Dali. His record includes five Champions League and one Ballon d’Or (2018), in addition to 160 games with the Croatian team and seventeen World Cup appearances.
Modric will return this Tuesday to see the faces with Messi for the third time defending the Croatian shirt, although it could have been four if the Real Madrid player had not been absent from the squad for the friendly that both teams played on November 12, 2014.
GROUP STAGE
Modric and Messi They met again four years ago at the World Cup in Russia. Croatia and Argentina met in the group stage on June 21, 2018 and the match was resolved with a 0-3 victory for the Europeans. Modric scored the second goal in the 80th minute, although both teams managed to qualify. Both players were starters. The albiceleste ended up falling in the round of 16 against France, while the Croatian team was proclaimed runner-up after losing in the final against the French team.
Asked in 2019 about his soccer preferences in Argentina, Modric did not hesitate to proclaim himself a ‘follower’ of xeneize. As the newspaper ‘Olé’ recalled, the Real Madrid player was then asked if he would prefer to play with Boca Juniors or with River Plate. “I would choose Boca, because I like the colors better and also the stadium. La Bombonera is something impressive when you see the atmosphere there,” replied the midfielder.