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Croatia captain Luka Modric has admitted it will be all about the country when they face Brazil in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals tomorrow (December 9). He is ready to put aside his Real Madrid connections and believes club teammate Vinicius Jr. will also be doing the same.
Brazil take on Croatia tomorrow in the quarterfinals at the FIFA World Cup. The two sides have been in good touch in the tournament in Qatar and are eyeing a place in the semifinals.
Speaking to the media ahead of the match, Modric admitted it was not the time to think about club connections. He was quizzed about facing his Real Madrid teammates when he said:
"Playing against my Real Madrid teammates tomorrow? We can be friends after the game. Everyone looks at himself and fights for his country. We will do our best to win."
When quizzed about Vinicus Jr, Modric replied:
"Vinicius? We have the difficult task to stop him tomorrow. Everyone knows his qualities, but if I can help make his job more difficult with some detail, I will certainly do it. We are all here to fight for our country. It's nice to hear Vinicius speak well of me. He's a great guy, we have a beautiful relationship. He's playing in an incredible form, he has improved a lot."
Luka Modric confident of continuing after FIFA World Cup
Luka Modric has confirmed that the FIFA World Cup will not be his last tournament with Croatia. The Real Madrid man admitted that he was planning to keep playing for the country as long as he is called up.
Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic has also spoken about Modric continuing and claimed that he wanted to play in the upcoming tournaments too. He said:
"This will not be the last tournament he will play for Croatia. He is professional and in good shape, you can see how he is in training, working to improve himself. It's unprecedented. We will need Luka for some time more in the future."
He added:
"When you come to a national (team) where (Mateo) Kovacic, (Marcelo) Brozovic and Luka Modric are the midfielders, half of your problems are solved already. You have a lot less on your mind, and I really do hope this is not his last World Cup."
Croatia are unbeaten at the FIFA World Cup and managed to get past Japan via a penalty shootout in the Round of 16.
