Luka Modric poses for the ‘unhappiest player of the match award ever’ only minutes after Italy’s last gasp equaliser leaves Croatia on the brink of Euro 2024 elimination – before dropping major retirement hint

Luka Modric looked distraught as he posed for a photo with the player of the match award in hand, minutes after Croatia’s latest concession, ending their Euro 2024 hopes.

The 38-year-old had an eventful evening in Leipzig in a match his country needed to win to guarantee progression to the knockout stages of the competition.

Modric had the chance to put Croatia ahead after they were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute following a Davide Frattesi handball, and the veteran stepped up to put his side ahead.

But his penalty was weak and easily cleared by Gianluigi Donnarumma, leaving Modric devastated. But he could hardly have made up for it any faster.

Croatia regained possession and launched another attack, with Donnarumma making another fine save to deny Ante Budimir. However, his parry fell at the feet of Modric, who made no mistake this time.

The Real Madrid star could only watch as his team conceded a final goal in Leipzig

Mattia Zaccagni (pictured) scored a dramatic late equalizer to put Croatia on the brink of elimination

But unfortunately for the Real Madrid star, Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th minute equalizer leaves Croatia on the brink of elimination.

Modric, who turns 39 in September, described the late concession as cruel and admitted he does not know how much longer he will continue playing.

“We kept fighting until the end, but unfortunately the football was merciless for us tonight,” he said. ‘It was cruel… but that’s part of football.

“When you lose like this, it’s hard to find the words to describe how you feel. Maybe it’s unfair because we all really fought for Croatia, from the first whistle to the last whistle. We can be proud of the way we represented our country tonight.”

He added: “I would love to keep playing forever, but there will probably come a time when I have to hang up my boots. I’ll keep playing, I don’t know for how much longer.’

His display was enough to see him claim the Player of the Match award, for which he dutifully posed even though he looked as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world.

Modric had put Croatia ahead just 32 seconds after seeing his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma

Fans were quick to react to the image of the 38-year-old holding his prize immediately after his country was effectively eliminated from the tournament

Fans were quick to comment on social media, with some claiming the image was among the “unfortunate” taken of a player receiving the award.

“Luka Modric just received the unluckiest MOTM Award ever,” one fan wrote on X. Another said, “Why did they even take this photo.”

‘Modric has won the MOTM prize. As you can see, he’s not very pleased.’ Wrote a third.

The midfielder’s goal earned him a place in European Championship history as he became the tournament’s oldest ever goalscorer.

The midfielder was hoping to go out with a bang after finishing second and third respectively at the last two World Cups.

But Croatia made a poor start to the tournament, losing 3-0 to Spain before being held to a 2-2 draw by Albania.

They now have to rely on other results in the next two days, but this could spell the end for Modric on the international stage.

Modric compared the defeat to Croatia’s extraordinary exit from the 2008 European Championship, after taking the lead with just a minute of extra time remaining

He was taken off the field with just over 10 minutes to go and could only watch in despair as his teammates failed to hold on to all three points.

“It’s hard to actually top the 2008 Turkey game, but this game probably comes pretty close.” He added that Croatia had an extraordinary exit from the European Championship 16 years ago. “It’s certainly a sad day for us and the Croatian national team.”