ZAGREB: Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic on Monday requested star midfielder and captain Croatia football team Luka Modric to stay amid growing speculation the skipper would retire from international football.
Zlatko Dalic’s request came a day after his team lost 5-4 to Spain via penalties in the Nations League final in Rotterdam.
“We need him, this is a generation that still did not complete the job,” Coach Dalic told media after returning to Zagreb.
Luka Modric As Captain of Croatia
The La Liga club Real Madrid midfielder, famously led Croatia to a second-place finish at the 2018 World Cup and also manage to take his side to third place at last year’s tournament in Qatar.
On Monday, front pages in most of the papers in the country ran pictures of the dejected skipper following the nail-biting defeat. “It was rather emotional for him yesterday,” said Dalic.
“Let him rest first and he would ll tell us what he thinks,” Dalic added.
On Sunday, Luka said he had already made a “clear decision” about his international career but did not elaborate, according to reports in local media adding that he would not “announce it today,” while leaving the stadium in Rotterdam.
Croatia Captain Luka Modric has played in 166 matches for Croatia since his debut in 2006.
