Luka Modric has quietly had another excellent World Cup campaign, as Croatia have booked their place in the last 8 of the competition. The Real Madrid maestro will be coming up against several of his teammates though, when he takes on Brazil in the quarter-finals. One of them is Vinicius Junior.
Vini had a brilliant performance in the last 16 game vs South Korea, as Brazil walked out with a 4-1 victory. Not only was the Real Madrid winger on the scoresheet but he managed to grab an assist as well, in what was a complete performance from him.
He will know that his team will have something to worry about though, when they come up against Modric and Croatia, who have looked solid defensively and have a penchant for cropping up with a surprise or two at the World Cup.
It looks like Brazil will be relying on Casemiro to stop Modric from having too much of an impact on the game. As reported by FIFA, Vini said:
"“Playing against Modric is going to be very special. As far as neutralising him goes, I’ll leave that to Casemiro because he can do a better job than me! He knows Modric really well because they played together for a long time.”"
Real Madrid superstar reveals plan to stop Modric as Brazil take on Croatia at World Cup
Of course, Casemiro and Modric formed a legendary trio in the middle of the park for Real Madrid, alongside Toni Kroos, which produced four Champions League titles for Los Blancos. Since then though, the Brazilian midfielder has moved on to Manchester United.
On the other hand, Vini will have his hands full trying to get past the Croatian defence, who have looked very solid during this World Cup as the team have conceded just two goals in their four games till now.
His direct opponent on the day is expected to be right-back Josip Juranovic, who Vini will be familiar with, having faced his club, Celtic, in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season. That could hand the Brazilian winger a slight advantage.