Heartbreak, yes, but hang on to the Modric memories

The announcement hasn’t come yet, maybe it will following a holiday after the heartbreak. But after a match where he went from regret to revelry in 33 seconds, becoming the oldest scorer in the European championship in the process, and from hope to disappointment with almost the last kick in Leipzig, Luka Modric has acknowledged the inevitable.“There will probably come a time when I have to hang up my boots,” he said, after a player-of-the-match performance he would happily swap with Croatia staying on in Germany. Unlikely after Mattia Zaccagni’s right-foot bender made it 1-1 taking Italy to the round of 16 when till the 98th minute it looked like Croatia, leading by Modric’s 55th minute strike, would get there at the defending champions’ expense. With two points from three games, Croatia will have to hope for a string of results to go their way to be among the best four third-placed teams.