Croatia skipper Luka Modric claims England’s lack of humility fired up his side as they reached World Cup final
Real Madrid ace was not impressed with being 'underestimated' in build-up while Sime Vrsaljko insisted Three Lions are still a long-ball team
LUKA MODRIC claims England failed to respect Croatia enough - and that gave his side all the motivation they needed.
Despite taking the lead through Kieran Trippier's early free-kick, the Three Lions were KO'd by Mario Mandzukic's extra-time strike.
And skipper Modric claims the build-up inspired his team-mates as they booked a spot in the final alongside France.
The Real Madrid ace, 32, told ITV: “People were talking - English journalists, pundits from television.
“They underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake.
"All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying: ‘OK, today we will see who will be tired.'
"They should be more humble and respect their opponents more.
"We showed again that we were not tired – we dominated the game mentally and physically.
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“We should have killed the game even before extra time. This is an amazing achievement for us – it’s a dream come true after such a long time.
"We are in the final and that is the biggest success in Croatia history. We have to be proud.”
Team-mate Sime Vrsaljko, 26, also stuck the boot in - claiming it was a case of same old England despite talk of Gareth Southgate's revolution.
He said: "The all-round perception was that this is a new-look England who have changed their ways of punting long balls up field but when we pressed them it turned out that they haven't."
While 29-year-old Ivan Perisic, who scored the second-half equaliser, added: “We knew what was at stake and how important the semi-final is for a small country like Croatia.
“We started slowly today but we showed our character and again came from a goal behind just like we did in the previous knockout rounds.
“Twenty years ago I was back at home in my home town and I rooted for Croatia wearing the Croatia jersey.
"I could only dream of playing for my country and scoring one of the most important goals to reach the final.”