Luka Modric believes Croatia's defeat to Greece has only brought out the best in the national squad.
Spurs star says play-off win was best display in years
Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric believes Croatia's 2-0 defeat to Greece has only brought out the best in the national squad.
Slaven Bilic's men were forced into the Euro 2012 play-offs as a result of that set-back against the 2004 competition winners, however, soon responded in impressive fashion by stuffing Turkey 3-0 in Friday's first leg.
The Spurs ace admits there is a lot of work for the national side to do, but said a team discussion last month had a big part to play in their "quality" display.
Character
"We have to stay calm because we still have to play the return match, but one must say that we showed character when we needed to most," said the 26-year-old midfield talisman.
"The defeat at Greece which confined us to the play-offs triggered a long and open discussion in the dressing room and forced us to play to the best of our abilities.
"Croatia can play against anyone when we are at this level and after a long time we did exactly what we set out to do.
"The last time we played football of this quality was against Germany and Turkey in Euro 2008."
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