Witness to painful past, excoach Bilic says ‘this is time’ for Croatia

LONDON:World Cup glory beckons Croatian stars such as Luka Modric after traumatic experiences at major tournaments, says their former coach Slaven Bilic.

The 49-year-old, who is in Russia as a TV pundit for English broadcaster ITV, told The Daily Mail that Modric and Ivan Rakitic will pose problems for England in they have not encountered so far.

“Luka and Rakitic are the best midfield pair in the World Cup,” said Bilic. “But don’t underestimate the rest of the team either. For me, Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida have been fantastic centre backs, among the best.”

Bilic, who is a mentor to several of the present squad including Modric having nurtured their talent as Croatia’s U-21 handler before becoming head coach of the national side, added he is confident this team can go one better than he and his teammates in 1998 and reach the final.

The hosts and eventual champions France came from 1-0 down to beat Croatia 2-1 but Bilic did not emerge with great credit from the game going down clutching his face as if he had been headbutted by French icon Laurent Blanc -- the latter got red-carded and missed France’s greatest football moment.

Bilic experienced some of the highs and the lows with the Croatian players such as being seconds away from the Euro 2008 semi-finals only for Turkey to level and progress on penalties.

The Croats were to suffer a similar late reverse when champions Portugal beat them in extra-time of the Euro 2016 last 16 clash. “Those memories are painful and the players realise this is their time,” said Bilic.