Modric's nationality stopping him from winning Ballon d'Or: Lovren

Jun 25, 2018 06:00 am

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said teammate Luka Modric would be a contender for the Ballon d'Or award if he were Spanish or German, and is undervalued because of his nationality.

Modric scored a superb solo goal in Croatia's impressive 3-0 win over Argentina and converted a penalty in the opening 2-0 win over Nigeria.

The Real Madrid midfielder has been the talisman of the Croatia team, but Lovren feels that Modric is underrated.

Said the Liverpool centre-back: "Modric would probably be getting more attention than he is right now if he were a German or Spanish player.

"He would maybe even be a Ballon d'Or winner. Because we are a smaller country, he gets less attention than he deserves."

With Croatia already through to the last 16, coach Zlatko Dalic has indicated he will field a largely second-string side against Iceland on Wednesday morning (Singapore time) to protect six players - Ivan Rakitic, Ante Rebic, Sime Vrsaljko, Mario Mandzukic, Marcelo Brozovic and Vedran Corluka -who are a yellow card away from a suspension. - REUTERS