Real Madrid star Toni Kroos believes Croatian hero Luka Modric could play until the 204 European Championship despite retirement rumours following his team’s semifinal exit from the ongoing World Cup.
Argentina defeated the Croats 3-0 on Tuesday, effectively ending their hopes of reaching back-to-back World Cup finals. Modric, who starred for the 2018 finalists once again in the tournament with his midfield brilliance, is 37 years old now, and there are rumours that he may retire from international football.
Kroos, his Real Madrid teammate, believes he can play for his country for a few more months until the next European Championship.
“If I had to guess I’d say Modrić will play at Euro 2024,”
the German said.
Throughout Croatia’s World Cup campaign, and again following their defeat on Tuesday, Modric has faced retirement questions in the media. The 2018 Ballon d’Or winner, however, has insisted that his priority is to win the third-place play-offs. Croatia will face either France or Morocco on Saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium for the third place play-off match.
Croatia’s FIFA World Cup dream may have come to an end, but the team can be extremely proud of itself. Zlatko Dalic’s team made another deep run in Qatar after marching all the way to the finals in 2018. Once again, the Vatreni built their campaign on a tenacious defence and a steely mentality. The Croats trailed in both of their knockout games prior to the semifinal, only to fight back and force their opponents to penalty shootouts before winning.
Barring the Argentina game, they were on song in almost for almost the entirety of the game and would now go in a series of squad transformations with many players in their early 30s.
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