Modric 'ashamed' after England hand Croatia worst defeat in their history

Croatia's Luka Modric said he was ashamed of his side's performance after they lost 7-0 to England in ​Rijeka on Saturday, the heaviest defeat in their ‌history.

Croatia's previous heaviest loss was a 6-0 defeat by Spain in 2018. Modric, the country's most-capped player, said the manner of the ​defeat by England was unacceptable.

"It is difficult to find ​an explanation for such a performance without duels, fouls, ⁠aggressiveness, togetherness... I've been here for 20 years, but ​for the first time I feel ashamed after a game," ​he told Jutarnji.

"You can lose, or play against an opponent who is better - and they are right now. But in any case, ​losing like this and squandering the reputation we've built ​over the years is unacceptable.

"You can't play football like that. You can't ‌play ⁠with two players less, you can't play like this, and we looked like we had 4-5 players less. A catastrophic night," the 41-year-old added.

Croatia next host Spain in Split ​on Tuesday. The ​world champions ⁠have a 100% record so far in the Nations League and won their first ​meeting 4-1 on Tuesday.

"We need to pull ourselves ​together, ⁠stay together because a new difficult game awaits us," said Modric. "And we have to show our true colours, that there ⁠is ​defiance and pride in us, desire, ​willingness, togetherness, these things cannot be lost overnight."

Croatia are third in Nations League ​A, Group Three.