Bilic: Modric is Europe's best

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Modric followed up his match-winning penalty against Austria on Sunday with a man-of-the-match performance against Germany on Thursday, helping Croatia to record a 2-1 victory that, combined with Austria's 1-1 draw with Poland, saw them progress to the quarter-finals.

"Luka is a star even without this tournament, I keep saying to him every day that he is the best player in Europe, but he is not the only great player on our team," Bilic said after the match in Klagenfurt.

Modric's display against the Germans showed just why Tottenham splashed out around £16.5million to sign the 22-year-old from Dinamo Zagreb prior to the European Championships.

Bilic is also a huge fan of Modric, but he was also keen not to undervalue the contributions of his other players.

He added: "We have world-class players, and they prove it day in, day out at every training session, in every match and in every part of the pitch."

Croatia took the lead in the Group B encounter thanks to Darijo Srna's 24th-minute strike and doubled their lead through Ivica Olic in the second half before Lukas Podolski pulled a late goal back for the Germans.

Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann admitted his side under-performed but refused to apportion any individual blame for the defeat.

"You lose as a team, we didn't play to our full potential, so it's a disappointing day for us because we know we can do better," he said.