Euro 2024: Croatia embrace ‘Dark Horse’ tag – Modric

Real Madrid midfield maestro Luka Modric expressed on Friday that Croatia don’t mind being the ‘dark horse’ at the Euro 2024, despite consistently exceeding expectations in recent major tournaments.

Zlatko Dalic’s squad will begin their Euro campaign against Spain in Group B at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday, aiming to reach the knockout phase for the fifth consecutive major tournament. Croatia reached the final of the 2018 World Cup, losing to France, and secured third place in Qatar last year.

Despite these achievements, Croatia are not considered among the favourites for the title in Germany, with France, England, the hosts, and Portugal seen as the leading contenders.

“Being the dark horse, we don’t mind that,” Modric said during a pre-match press conference.

“Everyone else being the favourites, us being the dark horses, we’re used to that. We have to show our unity.

“We’re here to make a big result. I think we have shown in the last few years we belong at the top of European football. In these championships, we’ve missed the last step to make a really good result. I hope we can do that at this tournament and really do something big.”

The 38-year-old, who recently secured his sixth Uefa Champions League title with Real Madrid, is participating in his ninth major international tournament. He made his debut at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and was an unused substitute in Croatia’s opening game, a 1-0 loss to Brazil at the Olympiastadion.

“I’ve always believed in myself,” Modric said.

“But I’ve always said if someone gave me a piece of paper and said ‘Write down what you want to achieve in your career,’ I definitely would’ve been afraid to write all this down.

“I didn’t expect all this to happen. After all these years, though, here I am. I remember 2006, it was a phenomenal atmosphere in this stadium. I hope this will be the case tomorrow and, on the pitch, we’ll give a lot to our supporters to be joyful about.”

Croatia faces a challenging group stage, concluding with a match against reigning champions Italy in Leipzig on June 24, following a game with Albania in Hamburg next Wednesday.

“We have the hardest group, that’s a fact, everyone admits that. So, with Italy, Spain, I think that the start is important,” said coach Dalic.

“We would like not to lose, but it’s not our aim. We wish to show ourselves in the best light possible to make a good start. We would like to win, with respect to our opponents who have a great national team. Of course, it will be difficult, a very demanding match, but our national team is very powerful.”