Soccer-Modric 'ashamed' after England hand Croatia worst defeat in their history

Croatia's Luka Modric said he was ​ashamed of his side's performance after ​they lost 7-0 to ‌England in ​Rijeka on Saturday, the heaviest defeat in their history. Croatia's previous heaviest loss was a 6-0 defeat by ‌Spain in 2018. Modric, the country's most-capped player, said the manner of the defeat by England was unacceptable.

"It is difficult to find an explanation for such ‌a performance without duels, fouls, aggressiveness, togetherness... I've been here for 20 ‌years, but for the first time I feel ashamed after a game," he told Jutarnji. "You can lose, or play against an opponent who is better - and they are right now. ⁠But in ​any case, losing ⁠like this and squandering the reputation we've built over the years is unacceptable.

"You can't play ⁠football like that. You can't play with two players less, you can't play like ​this, and we looked like we had 4-5 players less. A catastrophic ⁠night," the 41-year-old added. Croatia next host Spain in Split on Tuesday. The world champions have ⁠a ​100% record so far in the Nations League and won their first meeting 4-1 on Tuesday.

"We need to pull ourselves together, stay together because ⁠a new difficult game awaits us," said Modric. "And we have to show our ⁠true colours, that ⁠there is defiance and pride in us, desire, willingness, togetherness, these things cannot be lost overnight." Croatia are third in ‌Nations League ‌A, Group Three.