Scotland’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time were ended in a 3-1 defeat to a Luka Modric-inspir...
Scotland’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time were ended in a 3-1 defeat to a Luka Modric-inspired Croatia at Hampden Park on Tuesday that took the World Cup runners-up into the last 16 of Euro 2020.
After ending a 23-year wait just to qualify for a major tournament, another historic feat was beyond Steve Clarke’s Scotland side who were undone by a moment of magic from Modric.
Callum McGregor cancelled out Nikola Vlasic’s early opener to give the hosts hope heading into half-time.
But Modric showed the class that made him the man to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s grip on the Ballon d’Or in 2018, a stunning strike with the outside of his foot just after the hour mark restoring Croatia’s lead.
Technique. Precision. Composure.
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 22, 2021
🤤 @lukamodric10
👀 Goal of the Round 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥? @GazpromFootball | #EUROGOTR | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/qOjO4OaOrY
“No one is sure how Luka manages that,” Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic said of the 35-year-old.
“We expect that Luka will go down, lose his strength, but he is the force that pulls the whole team. Anything I would say about Luka would not be sufficient. I’m very proud to have such a player as part of our team.”
Ivan Perisic’s header rubbed salt into...
