Bilic will rest Modric tonight

Since Croatia has already qualified for the EURO 2008 quarter finals, coach Slaven Bilic will rest some key players, including Luka Modric. Not so much because they are tired, but because they are threatened by suspension by having been yellow-carded earlier in the tournament. This might be good news for Poland who will thus play against a B-team of Croatia. If the Poles can win against Croatia and Germany doesn’t win from Austria, they can still qualify as well. Nevertheless, Bilic has stated although some key players won’t take part, they are still going for the win.

The next important game for Modric and Croatia will be the quarter finals match against Turkey, who won from the Czech Republic yesterday in a thrilling match. Although first behind 2-0, Turkey still managed to claw back and win the game 2-3!

Well organised Croatia win from Germany, hardworking Modric

Today Croatia played a great game against Germany, winning 2-1. Dario Srna scored on the 24th minute mark, Ivica Olic scored another lucky one on the 63rd. Podolski scored a late goal but after that Germany was unable to keep the pressure on. Croatia was tactically superior and played smart, while some of Germany’s players were very disappointing, making costly mistakes.

Luka Modric played a much better game than the last one. He was very hardworking and everywhere on the pitch, combining with some nice individual actions now and then. Modric also nearly scored towards the end.

Man of the match for me was Olic, what an energy on the pitch this man has! Battling for every ball… Also worth noting was the passion that charismatic coach Bilic displayed near the sidelines, running up and down, giving directions. If he could he would have joined the game on the pitch!

EURO 2008: Luka Modric in action tonight!

Luckily for the fans, the achilles injury of Luka Modric wasn’t anything severe and he has been declared fully fit meaning we’ll see him in action tonight! Hopefully Modric will really shine against Germany this time since his performance in the previous Group B game against Austria was decent but nothing spectacular.

Bilic also promised some changes earlier and might replace Mladen Petric (who wasn’t convincing in the first match) by Ivan Rakitic from Schalke04. However, Klasnic might also be a candidate for that position. Germany will probably play with the same team and the main threatwill come from striker Podolski who is in a lethal form.

Luka Modric slightly injured, Bilic making changes

Today Luka Modric missed the training because of a slight achilles injury which was the result of a knock in the game against hosts Austria. However he is only being rested more as a precaution and it’s almost certain he will play in Croatia’s next game in the EURO 2008 tournament against Germany on Monday. Instead of training with the group, Modric took some individual training.

Some player should be more worried though since Bilic said he will replace some of them that he believed delivered sub-par performances last game.

Unconvincing Croatia beat Austria 1-0, Moderate Modric

Mission Accomplished

Mission accomplished for Croatia but in a rather unconvincing way. They started off with an excellent first half hour with Luka Modric in a controlling central midfield position, dictating the tempo of the game. At the 4th minute mark, Croatia earned a penalty which Modric converted to a goal with style. However after the first half hour, Austria took over the initiative. Using their powerplay style, they started to physically over class the Croats, this was especially noticeable at the end of the game. Luckily for Croatia, Austria was rather limited in their technical abilities, not being able to convert their chances. After a tense second half, the game came to an end with Croatia winning unconvincingly 1-0 in their first EURO 2008 match. Players worth mentioning were Srna and Olic who were both very lively and hardworking on the pitch today.

Moderate Modric

Contrary to earlier belief that Modric would play behind the strikers, in a attacking midfield position, he played in a controlling position together with Kovac. Still he acted as a playmaker dictating the tempo of the game. However, with the whole team getting into a defensive stance luring on the counter, Modric became a less and less involved in the play. Nevertheless he also had a big share in the defensive part and he did convert the penalty into the winning goal.

Germany Next

With the next game against Germany, Croatia will have to recuperate quick in order to counter the physically strong Germans. Much will depend on their fitness, since they will face another physically strong opponent!

Modric and Croatia kicking off in EURO 2008 Group B tomorrow

Tomorrow, Sunday the 7th, Croatia will play their first match in the EURO 2008 competition. Opponents are hosts Austria, the match will also be the opener of group B. Slaven Bilic announced his squad today, which didn’t hold any big surprises. The coach will opt for a 4-4-2 diamond formation. In the press conference today, he was quoted saying that all players in his team were important, also those on the bench. He also mentioned that the first game is the most imporant in his eyes. Modric told the press a similar thing after being asked if he would be at the center stage: “I’m confident I’ll live up to the expectations but the most important thing is the team”.

Luka Modric will act as a playmaker in the attacking position of the diamond shaped midfield.

The announced team for Croatia:

GK: 1-Stipe Pletikosa;
DEF: 5-Vedran Corluka, 4-Robert Kovac, 3-Josip Simunic, 22-Danijel Pranjic;
MID: 11-Darijo Srna, 10-Niko Kovac (captain), 14-Luka Modric, 19-Niko Kranjcar;
ATT: 21-Mladen Petric, 18-Ivica Olic

Also today, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was hailing Modric (Croatia), Benzema (France) and Gomez (Germany) as the ‘ones to watch’ in the EURO 2008 competition. Tottenham Hotspur fans will also keep an eye on their new signing Luka Modric to have a taste of things to come.

Luka Modric Round-Up

The Daily Record posted a nice summary about Croatia’s EURO 2008 team in group B and also more specifically its star player Luka Modric. Click here to see that specific article

STAR PLAYER: Luka Modric - resisted a January move away from Dinamo Zagreb but after rejecting a bumper deal has agreed to join Spurs next season. Intelligent and energetic playmaker in the Robert Prosinecki mould who ran the show against England at Wembley last November.