Tottenham's new £16.5m man Modric eyes a German double

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When Slaven Bilic hailed Luka Modric as the best footballer in Europe following the
playmaker’s orchestration of the defeat of Germany, it left you fearing a little for Tottenham’s new £16.5million man, raising the prospect that such an effusive
public declaration could only heap too much expectation on slim shoulders.

Except every Croatia fan need not worry. The inspirational Bilic just keeps telling his lad that he wears the No14 with the distinction that Johan Cruyff once brought to the number and when the coach drums it into his scrawny-looking talisman daily that “you’re the best,” the more Modric hears it, the more confident it seems to make him.

The 22-year-old has already done enough here to whet appetites at White Hart Lane, firstly by helping set up and then coverting the early penalty which gave Croatia’s entire campaign a comforting send-off against Austria, then by raising his game a considerable notch to win the man of the match award against Germany.

Best footballer in Europe? Croatian midfielder Luka Modric

Yet while Europe has been left purring at his nimble movement, passing control and a surprising strength in retaining possession which quite belies his slight 10st 3lb frame, Modric’s own feeling is that he still has much more to deliver as his team enter the knockout stages against Turkey in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadion tonight.

He’s been impressing judges all right but still there’s the sense that there’s room for improvement.

As he did at Wembley against England on that sorry, sodden night last November, Modric has an ability to quite dominate a game in a fashion which we have yet to see
from him here.

“I’m never satisfied and always think I’ve more to give,” said the perfectionist.

“Before the tournament, I said reaching the quarter-finals would be a great success.

"That was my personal objective. But we are there now and given our performances, I believe we can go further.

"I don’t want it to stop now at just the quarter-finals.

"There’s a belief in the team that we can go the whole way.”

That belief may have been strengthened last night as the squad watched on TV as Germany earned the opportunity of a semi-final rematch next week.

Bring them on, say the players who feel that if Modric, in particular, finds his third gear,
then Turkey may have to keep crying “miracle!”, the word which has been bandied around back in Istanbul freely ever since their astounding turnaround 3-2 win against the Czech Republic in Geneva.

The Croats, so often tagged as dark horses in tournaments like this, seem pretty comfortable now in their new role as thoroughbreds.

“We don’t see ourselves as a revelation any more, although some people perhaps still do,” said Bilic.

By ridding his team of any hint of old inferiority complexes, it makes you suspect he’s given them a shot at something unprecedented, nay unthinkable — that is, beating the Germans not once, but twice, in the same tournament.