Modric: "Messi can't be expected to do it all on his own"
USA vs Trinidad and Tobago: Concacaf Gold Cup live
Moments after the final whistle in Nizhny Novgorod, Luka Modric spoke to Argentine television about Croatia's 0-3 win over Argentina and gave his thought on Leo Messi's performance, explaining that for some reason the Barça ace cuts a lonely figure with the national team where he gets no support or service.
Messi snuffed out of the game
"He's an incredible player but he can't be expected to do it all on his own. In football you need help from your team mates - even when you are a great player. Leo looks fine to me, but by playing the game we played, that went against him. We closed down spaces and stopped Mascherano and other Argentina players getting the ball to him. It was very important for us to do that right at the start of the game and once we found our rhythm with the ball, we started taking control", Modric explained.
Deserved winners
Modric also spoke about the mood among the players after their second win at the tournament: "It's perfect, I thought we put in an exceptional performance and we were the better team out on the pitch. We had three clear chances in the first half which we didn't put away and in the second half, the keeper's mistake helped us even more. In the second half especially, we played well".
Top of the Group D with 6 points, Croatia are now mathematically through to the next round. They could end as champions of the group if Iceland fail to beat Nigeria tomorrow. Argentina meanwhile still have a chance to qualify from the group, but that means beating Nigeria on Tuesday and hoping Iceland lose or draw against Croatia. .
