Turkey 0 Croatia 1: Luka Modric hailed after scoring incredible volley for 'big team'

Luka Modric delivered one of his best ever performances for Croatia in their 1-0 defeat of Turkey, according to Croatia coach Ante Cacic.

The Real Madrid midfielder was the best player on the pitch at the Parc des Princes, scoring the only goal with a brilliant 25-yard volley at the end of the first half. Cacic was thrilled afterwards and hailed Modric’s virtuoso display as among the first very of his 10-year international career.

“Luka, he really deserves to be talked about, especially after this match,” Cacic said. “This was one of his best matches in Croatian history, he was really playing well, he was really our leader, and he scored this magical goal.”

Modric ran the game for Croatia and Cacic explained afterwards that when their 30-year-old midfielder plays well, so does the rest of the team. “We need Luka in this form,” he said, “because all the team looks different, looks better, looks more aggressive.”

Modric was the official man of the match, and when he gave a press conference of his own in the Parc des Princes afterwards, he said that win meant more to him than his own goal. “I kicked the ball in a perfect way and I am really happy about the goal,” he said, “but I am even more happy about the performance, the victory and the three points.”

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This generation of Croatian players have not performed as well as they might have done at international tournaments recently, but Modric said after the game that they now played “like a big team”.

“The atmosphere in team, even before match, was great,” Modric said. “We are really self-confident, from the first to last player, and I think we have shown this on the pitch today. We played really aggressively, with lots of ball possession, and lots of passes. We played like a big team, we are a big team and we proved it.”

Both Modric and Cacic insisted afterwards that Croatia have not automatically qualified for the group stage yet, and that they must make sure they maintain the same level for their forthcoming games with Czech Republic and Spain.

“I don’t think we are already passed the group stages, we haven’t secured our place in the next round,” Cacic said. “I said to my players, I am more afraid of Czech Republic than Turkey, so I just want to forget this victory as soon as possible and try to focus on the next match.”

Modric warned his compatriots not to get caught up in the ‘euphoria’ of an emphatic opening day win.

“This was only the first step,” Modic said. “We have two important matches in front, starting with the Czech Republic, who are tough, unpredictable. We have to go step by step, make sure we don’t fall into euphoria and think we have passed the group stages. We just have to build our self-confidence.”

Turkey coach Fatih Terim said that his team had to work harder as they try to rescue their Euro 2016 campaign. Turkey play Spain in Nice on Friday before Czech Republic in Lens next Tuesday and know they have to improve drastically if they are not to go straight home.

“I didn’t expect us to drop so much in second half,” Terim said afterwards. “I thought we would have more possession. In the first half it was a balanced game. In the second half we had some defensive problems. The lessons we should get: don’t lose the ball in an easy way, and we should run and fight more.”

Given the opportunity to demand more from star players Arda Turan and Hakan Calhanoglu, Terim criticised three other first-teamers as well, demanding that they give more in the next two games.

“Arda and Calhanoglu are important players, we rely on their performances,” Terim said. “But as you said, they couldn’t deliver enough. We will need them. This happens. We play as a team. Cenk Tosun, Selcuk Inan, Ozan Tufan, they need to deliver more. I have high expectations for them. But unfortunately, as you said, if they deliver enough, we will make some good results.”