"Luka Modric has accused English journalists and pundits of showing a lack of respect to Croatia’s players and admitted his teammates had used criticism to motivate them to victory against England in their World Cup semi-final.
Modric impressed as Croatia came from behind to win after extra time in Moscow but the Real Madrid midfielder was scathing in his reaction towards sections of the English media, some of whom had predicted an easy win for Gareth Southgate’s side.
“People were talking … English journalists, pundits from television,” he told ITV. “They underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying: ‘OK, today we will see who will be tired.’ They should be more humble and respect their opponents more.
“We showed again that we were not tired – we dominated the game mentally and physically.
“We should have killed the game even before extra time. This is an amazing achievement for us – it’s a dream come true after such a long time. We are in the final and that is the biggest success in Croatia history. We have to be proud.”"
Croatia motivated by England’s lack of respect, says Luka Modric
englands media is always their least valued player
Might have to remove my talk about Mbappe second player to come out and talk out against the English media. Guess they were really on their high horses. Still can't get over how this little man put just took over the game like that! Just yanked up the middlefield and said it was mine.
vibe behind them. But yet here is the great England following in the footsteps of the Panamanian minnows who don't know football.
