PHILADELPHIA -- Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic hailed Luka Modric's performance as "truly fantastic" as the 40-year-old midfielder led his country into the knockout rounds for the third World Cup in a row.
Modric became the oldest player to record a World Cup assist when he set up Nikola Vlasic's winner in the 83rd minute as Croatia beat Ghana 2-1 to secure second spot in Group L.
- FIFA World Cup match schedule
Not only that, Modric was on hand to block a Ghana effort in his own penalty area in stoppage time to deny the African side a goal which would have seen them finish second behind England.
"Luka was truly fantastic," Dalic said. "He made an assist and stopped a goal twice. That's his character and his energy. He never gave up.
"He's been substituted a couple of times [in the first two games] but he is getting better and better. He was a role model of how things should be.
"He is aware that this is his last World Cup and he's trying to do his best. I hope he stays healthy as long as possible."
Now into the knockouts rounds, Croatia are in familiar territory.
Despite having a population of less than four million people, they reached the World Cup final in 2018 and the semifinals four years later in Qatar.
They're set to play their round-of-32 matchup on Thursday in Toronto -- possibly against Portugal -- but Dalic insists his experienced team will head into the game with no fear.
"The next opponent doesn't matter, we know what we can do and what we want," Dalic said.
"We achieved the first objective and now we move on. This is only a small step forward, we're not going to be euphoric. We're going to try and win the next match as well."
