On the evening of June 19, the Group B match of the group stage of the European Championship continued, with Croatia, which lost their first game, facing Albania. In the first half, Albania took the lead with a counter-attacking opportunity; Croatia reversed the lead in the second half thanks to goals from Kramaric and Sucic, but Jasura's goal just before the break helped Albania equalize.
After being chased to a 2-2 draw by the opponent in the 96th minute, the whole Croatian team seemed to be deflated, and the morale accumulated after completing the score reversal seemed to be completely gone.
But at this time, the team's 38-year-old Ballon d'Or winner Modric still did not give up, he still rushed to the opponent's penalty area with the ball at full speed in the 97th minute of the game, wanting to help the "Plaid Army" complete the stunner, but his teammates did not respond in time, Modric was directly put down by the opponent in the process of dribbling, and finally wasted this good opportunity.
This is Modric's fifth European Championship appearance, having previously helped the team to a historic runners-up finish at the 2018 World Cup, and he was also awarded the tournament's MVP and the Ballon d'Or that year, breaking the monopoly of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Modric led the team all the way to the semifinals and finally won the third place, and Modric also gave a wonderful performance.
Croatia did not have many surprises in terms of the lineup at this European Championship in Germany, with five of the midfield six even over 30 years old, and the three midfielders composed of Luka Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic combined are close to 100 years old. Under this aging lineup, Croatia's offensive and defensive transitions are indeed like a "centenarian", which is unusually slow.
In the opening game of the group stage against the young Spain, Croatia performed sluggishly at both ends of the pitch and lost 3-0. The 16-year-old put on a brilliant performance, a great poir of Croatia's old and slow squad and coach Dalic.
In this game, facing the weak Albania, Croatia has no way back, and only a win can continue the possibility of qualifying for the group stage. However, in the first half of the game, the eager and slow pace of the "Plaid Army" was stunned by the opponent's sharp counterattack, with only 4 shots on target and none of them on target under nearly 70% possession. The opponent scored a goal with 3 shots on target from 8 shots.
In the second half, the shameful Dalic adjusted his tactics in time and sent Pasalic and Jocic to the two new forces, and the team also scored two goals in the 74th and 76th minutes to make the score 2-1.
But they underestimated the Albanian side that was geographically separated from them by Montenegro, and when Jasura scored a tenacious equaliser in the 96th minute, Croatia seemed to fall from heaven, and the whole team couldn't believe that they would be drawn.
At this time, there was only one person who did not give up. With just over one minute left in the game, the 38-year-old veteran Modric still pushed the opponent's penalty area before dribbling like a 100-meter dash, but was directly knocked down by the opposing player, and Croatia also lost the last chance to attack.
After the match, Modric sat down on the ground with his hands over his face, seemingly in disbelief at the result, and his opponent came in time to extend his hands to him in respect. On this night, the 38-year-old Modric is still an idol and hero in the hearts of many people.
Modric made 122 passes and 108 of them were on target, both of which were the highest of any player on the pitch. In addition, he also made two key passes, but unfortunately his team-mate's shot was not good enough to convert into a goal. During the game, Modric also fell into the opponent's multi-person defense for a while. After the game, Modric's rating was as high as 8.1, ranking first in the team.
With this unfortunate draw, Croatia have just one point from two games, and with defending champions Italy facing them in the final round, the in-form 'Plaid Army' are likely to return home in the group stage, which will also be their worst result since Euro 2012.