Luka Modric and Croatia in control of their World Cup qualification fate
By Alex McVey
Real Madrid’s players are currently on International Break. Luka Modric’s Croatia just took a major step forward in qualifications by beating Greece 4-1 in the first leg of their playoff.
Luka Modric’s Croatia have not had an easy go of it in their World Cup qualification process. Modric found his side in a tough spot after a 1-1 draw to Finland put their qualification prospects in doubt.
Croatia then fired their coach, replaced him with a new one, and tried to steady the ship. And steady the ship they did, as Modric’s skilled passing helped Croatia put two past Ukraine.
That set them up for a World Cup playoff against Greece, to be decided over the course of two legs.
After spending quite a bit of time with their World Cup hopes in jeopardy, it’s now starting to look like Croatia are well on their way to securing a bid to Russia.
Modric was at the center of events against Greece, bossing the midfield and putting in a man-of-the-match level performance.
He also managed to get on the score sheet, this time slotted away from the penalty spot. Maybe someone should tell Cristiano Ronaldo to give Luka the penalty duty. I’m sure that would go over well, right?
Modric’s penalty goal got things started off right for the Croatians in just the 13th minute of play. They then never looked back. Nikola Kalinić scored the second goal on a break following a low, driving cross from Ivan Strinić. Greece managed to pull one back from a corner through Sokratis Papastathopoulos, but Croatia did not let their foot off the gas.
Two more goals fell to the Croatians, one from Perišic and one from Kalinic, to end the match with a 4-1 scoreline.
Greece did manage to score an away goal, which means there is technically still some chance that they could manage to pull this one out. But any away goal for Croatia in Greece makes the task near impossible for Greece to overcome.
Luka Modric and his Croatian squad, despite many trials and tribulations, now stand on the precipice of a World Cup 2018 bid.
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