Croatia captain Luka Modric said he felt ashamed for the first time in his 20-year career after his team's 7-0 defeat to England in the Nations League. The veteran midfielder, who played 56 minutes of the match, described the heavy loss as "unacceptable" in a blunt assessment of his side's performance.
England's dominant display
England took the lead after just eight minutes through Harry Kane, with Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka all scoring in the first half. Saka and captain Kane each added another goal after the break, and substitute Morgan Rogers completed the scoring late on to make it seven without reply.
The match was watched by thousands of schoolchildren, as the behind-closed-doors sanction was not applied to those under 14.
Modric's brutal verdict
Speaking via Marca, Modric said: "It's hard to find an explanation for a performance like this without duels, fouls, aggression, or a lack of unity... I've been here for 20 years, but for the first time ever, I feel ashamed after a match!"
He added: "Losing is understandable because, right now, they're better. But losing like this and ruining the reputation we've built over the years is unacceptable. I feel very ashamed."
The midfielder continued: "You can't play football like this. It felt like we were four or five players short. It was a catastrophic night. We shouldn't blame each other or look for someone to blame, but rather stand together. I've never had this feeling after a match."
"We need to be united because another difficult match awaits us. And we need to show our true nature, that there's resentment and pride within us, desire, will, unity, which can't be lost overnight. Playing like this is unacceptable. Today we would have lost even to a Third Division team."
Coach takes responsibility
Croatia head coach Slaven Bilic said: "God forbid this happens again, Croatia doesn't deserve this. The responsibility falls on me; I'm the coach, this is my national team. We'll analyse everything, but some things are unacceptable."
He added: "We can only move forward with a good performance against Spain. It's easy to be nice and positive when things are going well, it's easy to be friendly when things are going well."
"There can't be anything more difficult than this in football; now is the time: let's show unity and character. It's absurd to say that we're going to beat Spain no matter what, but we have to show a strong and courageous Croatia."
Group standings and next fixtures
England have moved clear of Croatia in Group 3 of Nations League A, while Spain's win over the Czech Republic on Saturday left the latter bottom of the group, with the world champions in first.
England face Czechia in their final fixture of the international break on Tuesday, having already beaten them in Prague. Tuchel's side lost to Spain at Wembley before that, however. The return fixture against Luis de la Fuente's side takes place in Madrid next month during the November international break.
