Luka Modric says the controversial award of the penalty “killed” Croatia in Sunday’s World Cup final, but insists his side must be proud of their overall performance in Russia and use it as foundation to achieve something great in future.
Contesting their first major final, Croatia were defeated 4-2 by France at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, when the match turned on a contentious spot kick awarded not long before half time. With the score at 1-1 – Croatia had already fought back from Mario Mandzukic’s own goal – referee Nestor Pitana awarded France a penalty after ruling Ivan Perisic’s handball inside his own area was enough to give a foul. Pitana used the Video Assistant Referee to make the call, although replays showed the decision was harsh.
Until that point, Croatia were the better side, and will also rue the concession of the opener, when Antoine Griezmann appeared to dive to win the free kick that led to the goal. Asked afterwards about the penalty decision, Modric said: “I didn’t see, but everyone said it was unintentional and in a game of this magnitude you cannot give these kind of penalties. That was a turning point of the game. When we play the best football, we dominate the game and he gives a penalty, it kills you. We were surprised especially because first goal he gave the foul, which wasn’t in my opinion and they scored from that. It’s not easy again always to come back but in the end we tried, we fought until the end and we have to be proud of what we did, how we did today. But it wasn’t enough to win it.”