In the 114th minute of an epic European Championship evening, a lot heard and felt like the end of an era.

There were only six minutes left until the second half of extra time was over in this 3-5 round of 16 defeat against Spain.

At that moment, the best and most successful player in Croatian football history, which was still young, was replaced and thousands of fans in the Copenhagen stadium shouted: "Luka Modric, Luka Modric".

The Real Madrid playmaker is 35 years old.

After being eliminated from this European Championship, he left it open whether he would still play for his national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

"We will see.

We need to have a good rest and think of everything.

Now is not the time to talk about it, "he told the TV channel HRT.

With Modric, the Croatians reached the final of the World Cup three years ago.

And with Modric, they once again contributed to one of the most spectacular evenings of this European Championship on Monday evening, when they caught up 3-1 deficit against Spain between the 85th and 92nd minute and then in overtime with two goals from Alvaro Morata (100 .) and Mikel Oyarzabal (103rd) still lost.

But even on this evening it was clear that the Croatians are no longer as good as they were in 2018.

And they will probably not get that good again anytime soon.

Modric alone cannot cover up the problems that have arisen since the World Cup.

This would require a new spirit in the team and a lot more young players to move up.

“We gave everything,” said the maestro after the game.

“We can be happy with our approach, our character and our morals, but Spain was better in the crucial situations.

We should congratulate them. "

The Spaniards met the Croatians in the second game after the 2018 World Cup final.

The game in the Nations League ended 6-0 and was a warning to coach Zlatko Dalic.

Because a lot has come together with his team in the past three years. Important players like Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Rakitic ended their national team careers. Others lacked the necessary tension after the success in Russia. There was ferment in the team between older and younger players. That could already be heard after the preliminary round games against England (0: 1) and the Czech Republic (1: 1) and it was also evident in Copenhagen when we met the Spaniards again.

Because after the 1-0 through Pedri's own goal (20th), the former Frankfurt Ante Rebic left the field before half-time to change his shoes.

The Croatians were briefly outnumbered, Spain scored to 1-1 through Pablo Sarabia (38th) at exactly this time

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and Modric in particular made Rebic very clear about his displeasure.

It was a scene that is symptomatic of this disappointing EM.

That didn't change anything that substitute Mislav Orsic (85th) and Mario Pasalic (90th + 2) after the 1: 2 by Cesar Azpilicueta (57th) and the 1: 3 by Ferran Torres (77th) all of a sudden found the energy to catch up, which was no longer expected.

The house collapsed

Croatia only has a little over four million inhabitants.

Nobody can expect this small country to keep up with the big football nations in the long run.

Recently, however, it also became apparent that Belgium, which is not much bigger, shows more consistency in the important tournaments.

And that Portugal, which is not much bigger, produces significantly more top talent in comparison.

One of the younger Croatians is midfielder Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow.

After the European Championship, the brother of the former high jump world champion Blanka Vlasic showed the heart and emotions that his team so often lost at this tournament.

"When we scored the two equalizer goals, my heart was as big as a house," he said.

“But when the Spaniards met again, this house literally collapsed.

I have never experienced anything like it."