Jarni: Lions should Luk to halt Modric

ENGLAND must stop Real Madrid ace Luka Modric if they are to stand any chance of getting past Croatia in their World Cup semi-final.

That is the warning from Robert Jarni, one of the heroes of Croatia’s run to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals, who thinks Modric gets the best out of his national team.

“When Modric plays well the rest of the team are 30 per cent better,” said Jarni.

Modric (right) pulls the strings in Croatia’s midfield alongside Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic.

“Modric and Rakitic are very important.

“They have a lot of experience and play for big clubs,” Jarni added.

“We also have good widemen in Ante Rebic and Ivan Perisic who are playing well and Mario Mandzukic has come to life.”

Jarni admits that Croatia struggled against a strong, physically imposing and more direct Denmark side in the Round of 16, when they only sneaked through on penalties.

“I think they’ve learned their lesson,” he added. “I believe there’s no favourite against England. It’s 50-50. “This team was also playing the Euros in France two years ago and was doing really well but against Portugal they lost because of a late lapse right at the end of the match. “We had a good team there and it’s more or less the same but they are older and have more experience now.”

And now he hopes they can surpass the feats of his own generation who lost in the semi-finals to France 20 years ago. “We couldn’t reach the final in France so I’d love them to get there this time – that is the dream but it will be difficult,” he said.