"The problem is not losing, but the way in which one loses," Luka Modrić said before Croatia meet Spain in the Nations League. Croatia were beaten 0-7 by England in their previous match, and Modrić wants a completely different display in Tuesday's meeting with Croatia vs Spain in Split.

Croatia's reaction after England

Modrić's message was about the response as much as the result. He said the squad had already talked after the defeat and stressed that Croatia cannot carry on as if nothing happened. His view was that the team need more unity, commitment and aggression, and that the issue was collective rather than down to one or two players.

That fits the recent results as well. Croatia's last two heavy games against elite opposition have ended 0-7 against England and 4-1 against Spain, although they did beat Czech Republic 2-1 in between. The point Modrić keeps coming back to is not damage control, it is whether Croatia can show the same control of duels and spacing that he says was missing against England.

Spain's unbeaten run

Modrić also made no attempt to soften the challenge. He called Spain the best team in the world and, speaking to Europa Press, said they have not lost in a very long time. SPORT1 reported that Spain have gone 41 matches without defeat, and they arrive for this fixture with 3 wins from 3 in the Nations League group shown here, plus 10 goals scored and 4 conceded.

That is a hard opponent for Croatia to meet after a night like the one against England. Modrić is not pretending otherwise, but he is also not treating the game as a referendum on the squad's character. He is treating it as a chance to show the opposite of what they produced in their previous match.

Modrić has also left his international future open, saying he may leave the national team within a year or within a month, but only wants to stay while the coach wants him there. For now, the immediate issue is Tuesday in Split, where Croatia will try to answer the England defeat against a Spain side on a 41-match unbeaten run.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →