Luka Modric called up for World Cup Qualifiers

As expected, Luka Modric has been called up by Slaven Bilic, coach of the Croatian team. Croatia is going play against Kazakhstan and England in the World Cup Qualifiers next month. Worth noting is that Bilic will miss Kranjcar, one the key players, because of injury. The game against England will be especially tough since Croatia beat them twice in the European Championship qualifying games, surely the English team will do anything to try avoiding a third defeat in a row. Read the rest of this entry »

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!

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.

Croatia and Modric gearing up for EURO 2008

With the European Championship 2008 now less than three weeks away, all teams are preparing for the start of the tournament. Also Croatia is hopeful of doing well, and it’s placing its hopes on playmaker Luka Modric for that. Slaven Bilic, coach of the national team said: “When he plays, Croatia is at its best!” So far, Modric played 24 matches for the national team and scoring 3 goals. It doesn’t sound like much, but his real strength is giving assists and dictating the play.

Modric was also quoted saying: “I know all eyes are on me right now, but I believe we could achieve a good result only through team play, and not some individual heroics.”

Croatia is fielding a team of which the main strength is its midfield where the talented duo Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar can do magic on the ball.

Last sunday, the first seven players of the Croatian national team gathered together for training on the Adriatic coast, in the town of Rovinj to start preparing for Euro 2008. The first in line were Vedran Corluka, Nikola Kalinic, Manuel Pamic, Anas Sharbini, Ognjen Vukojevic, Niko Covac and of course also Luka Modric. “Stipe Pletikosa and Ivica Olic will arrive on Monday, while the others will show up by Wednesday” Bilic told the press. The coach also said that they will start with training once to twice per day, and focusing on physical readiness. He also added that the first match against hosts Austria will be the key one. Also in light of a good preparation, on Saturday they will play a match against Moldova in Rijeka and another one against Hungary on the last day of May, in Budapest.

For some more information on Croatia’s chances and their team for Euro 2008, read this excellent article.

Video: Luka Modric in Action against Russia

Here is some good high quality footage from the Euro 2008 qualification match against Russia in December 2007. Modric displaying his excellent technique and a great shot at goal around the 30 seconds mark, shame it didn’t go in!

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