The final commitment of Luka Modric

Luka Modric is not leaving Qatar yet but he said goodbye to the World Cup in the stadium where he imagined playing the final on Sunday, the second in a row after the one in Russia, which he lost but got him a Ballon d'Or. noble zone of the World Cups in a strange way, with his face reddened by a ball that began with a shot of his that returned after bouncing off the boot of an opponent.

It was strange, but it was also as always, without a regret, just as he traced his way to this shore that he almost reached and where he finally stayed.

He went on as if confident that, like other times, two strokes at the last moment could bring him and his people back to the surface.

At 37 years old and down 3-0, he still touched, ran, defended and shot.

Until the last shot returned to his face and Dalic withdrew him to the bench to discreet applause in a stadium engrossed by the final that Messi was looming.

It was the 81st minute, and up to that point, in Lusail, came the amazing Modric.

Without saving anything.

“It may be the end of a generation in World Cups.

They will retire with the 2024 Euro Cup. An excellent generation that has reached the semifinal twice in a row”, recalled Dalic.

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infinite Messi

Before, when only half had been played and they were trailing two goals behind, Modric had made one of those gestures that have caused tremors in any confident rival.

Still one rung away from his second final, he hurried to reach the locker room.

Without looking down, he hurried down the tunnel and suddenly smiled, almost laughed, stopped and turned to wait for someone.

The cameras lost him there, but behind him came his troops, who talk about themselves as family, as the posters in their Doha camp say.

He wanted to keep playing.

The end of the break found the Croats lined up at the starting point, with Modric back in front.

They had to wait like this for a little over a minute, with their eyes lost in the grass outside, until the Argentines appeared.

Modric wanted to continue throwing walls, pipes.

Always.

But this time they were really hurt.

Argentina had found the way to destroy her empire.

In the same way that to put an end to the Death Star the rebel ships had to slip through a channel towards the center, to disarm Croatia it was enough for Argentina to throw a couple of balls also through the central channel.

That's where the Croats break up, as happened to them in the quarterfinal match against Brazil.

There they suffered the first blow from Argentina, a ball down the middle that caught the center-backs, Gvardiol and Lovren, out of position, in such a way that Julián Álvarez found himself face to face with Livakovic.

It stung him above, crashed into him, and Lovren prevented him from going in, but the goalkeeper had given a penalty.

He found himself before Messi after having stopped four in the shootouts against Japan and Brazil, the most inspired in the history of the World Cups with Schumacher, Goycoechea and Subasic.

He also guessed the direction of the shot, as in five of the previous seven, but this time he missed the ball, too high.

“It has completely changed the course of the game,” Dalic explained.

“We were in control, we had the reins of the game.

We didn't create many chances, but we did have control”.

The second was very similar, again through the central conduit, through which Álvarez launched again, this time the dribble.

And it marked a point from which Modric was no longer going to return, even if he refused to give up.

He still had a few passes, some runs, some last efforts on the field of the final that he will not play.

And the hugs from his family, and from the Argentines, who came in order to see him off.

But he still hasn't left.

He brought his people together and they came to applaud his background, while on the other side Messi sang like the last fan.

Croatia has an uncomfortable process left, but one that they intend to manage with honor, the match for third place, as Dalic said: “It is very difficult to recover after such a tough game, but I have told them that they have to go with their heads high and be very proud, and give everything to fight for third place”.

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