Croatia captain Luka Modric said he felt “ashamed” following his team’s 7-0 home defeat to England in the Nations League, describing the performance as a “catastrophic night.”
The 41-year-old midfielder, who made his 205th appearance for Croatia, said it was the first time in his 20-year international career that he had experienced such a feeling after a match, according to BBC Sport.
Modric: We looked like we had four or five players less
Croatia entered Saturday’s match in Rijeka level on points with England, but the contest quickly turned into a one-sided affair.
Modric was substituted in the 57th minute with Croatia already trailing 5-0. Harry Kane scored twice for England, while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka also found the net before the Croatian captain left the pitch.
Saka later added another goal, while Morgan Rogers completed the scoring as England sealed a commanding 7-0 victory.
“You can’t play football like that… we looked like we had four or five players less,” Modric said.
The former Real Madrid midfielder said Croatia lacked aggression, togetherness and intensity, adding that such a performance was difficult to explain.
“You can lose, or play against an opponent who is better — and they are right now,” Modric said. “But in any case, losing like this and squandering the reputation we’ve built over the years is unacceptable.”
Croatia faces another major test against Spain
The defeat leaves Croatia facing a difficult battle in its Nations League group.
Croatia began Slaven Bilic’s second spell as head coach with a 2-1 away victory over the Czech Republic before suffering a 4-1 defeat to world champion Spain.
The 7-0 loss to England has now added further pressure ahead of Croatia’s next match against Spain in Split on Tuesday.
Modric said the team must remain united and respond quickly.
“We need to pull ourselves together, stay together because a new difficult game awaits us,” he said.
Croatia will later travel to face England on November 12 before completing its Nations League campaign at home against the Czech Republic on November 15.
