Modric wins golden ball as best player at the 2018 World Cup

Croatia captain Luka Modric said he would look to continue playing on despite his country's likely elimination from the European Championship after conceding a last-gasp goal in a 1-1 draw with Italy in their final Group B game on Monday.

Modric, the Ballon d'Or winner in 2018 when Croatia reached the World Cup final in Moscow, put his team ahead seconds after having a penalty saved, but then watched in horror, after being taken off, as Italy's Mattia Zaccagni curled home the equaliser with the last kick of the game deep in stoppage time.

The draw put Italy into the last 16 and left Croatia third in Group B with two points - unlikely to be enough to take one of the spots reserved for the four best third-placed finishers.

Despite the disappointment, Modric suggested he wanted to carry on even after 178 internationals since his debut in 2006.

"I'd like to keep playing forever but there probably will come a time when I must hang up my boots. I'll keep playing on, but I don't know for how much longer," the 38-year-old midfielder told reporters.

Modric was resigned in his analysis of the game, while his coach Zlatko Dalic also bemoaned a lack of good fortune.

"That was very stressful. We kept battling right until the end but, unfortunately, football was merciless with us tonight. It was cruel above all today but also in our last match (a 2-2 draw with Albania) when we also conceded a late goal," said Modric.

"But that's part and parcel of football. Often it gives you plenty of smiles but on other occasions it makes you very sad as it did today, losing in the manner we did

"It's hard when you lose like this to find the words to describe how you feel. Of course we need to bounce back. But that's the way it is.

"And as I said earlier, perhaps it's unfair because we all really fought for Croatia right from the first whistle till the last and the result is what it is," Modric added.

Dalic suggested the eight minutes of time added on was unnecessary and that his players became nervy in the closing stages. "There were not many breaks in play or fouls. But you cannot concede a goal like that in the 98th minute."

"Defeat is part and parcel of football. That's the way it is," added the coach.

The World Cup-winning French team returned home to a heroes' welcome yesterday, parading down the Champs-Elysees as hundreds of thousands of cheering fans gave a raucous welcome to the country's newest idols.

France overcame a determined Croatia to win 4-2 in Sunday's final in Russia, with teenager Kylian Mbappe applying the coup de grace and cementing his place as a new global superstar at the age of just 19.

Millions of fans in France then celebrated into the night, honking car horns and flying the tricolour flag while the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe were lit up in the national colours of blue, white and red.

Crowds began converging early Monday on the Champs-Elysees, the gathering point for all national celebrations, to catch a glimpse of a returning squad which has captured the country's imagination.

As the celebrating players descended on an open-air bus under heavy police guard -- some of the 2,000 officers deployed in the capital -- nine jets from the Patrouille de France, the air force's acrobatic unit, did an honorary flyover trailing blue, white and red smoke.

After leaving the Champs-Elysees, the players quickly changed into custom-made blue suits before being welcomed at the Elysee Palace by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, who were also decked out in blue for the occasion.

Macron previously promised the Legion of Honour for the victors' "exceptional services" to the country, an award already given to the legendary team which won France's first World Cup title in 1998.

The first couple then posed with the team as they sang the Marseillaise national anthem and waved scarves for a joyous group photo, before heading inside for a private meeting.

"Thanks to you all!" Macron told the team after gathering again outside. "This team is beautiful because you are united!"

Despite a voice nearly failing him, Pogba then proved himself a showman off the field as well as on by leading the guests in an impromptu celebratory rap punctuated by "Allez les Bleus!"

Nearly 3,000 guests were invited to the reception in the Elysee gardens, including around 1,000 youths from local football clubs such as Bondy, the gritty Paris suburb whose towering housing projects produced Mbappe.

Afterwards guests would be treated to the beats of DJ Snake, who has worked with pop stars including Lady Gaga and is part of the Pardon My French collective of French DJs.

Macron had already celebrated with the team on Sunday -- even doing "dab" dance moves with players in a video that has gone viral -- after attending the final in Moscow.

Later, the team were expected to attend a dinner in their honour at the posh Hotel du Crillon.

In Paris, the metro system has temporarily renamed six of its stations in honour of the key players, with the Victor Hugo stop -- named after the famed 19th-century writer -- becoming Victor Hugo Lloris after the team's goalkeeper.

Two stations were rebaptised in tribute to France coach Didier Deschamps, who captained the national side to its first World Cup victory, won on home soil in 1998.

"There are two things that matter -- one is that these 23 players are now together for life, whatever happens, and also that from now on they will not be the same again, because they are world champions," a champagne-soaked Deschamps said Sunday.

Macron will be relieved that joyous and occasionally chaotic celebrations across France on Sunday night passed off without any major incident following a string of terror attacks in France since 2015.

Luka Modric lifted his first title as Real Madrid captain when his side won the UEFA Super Cup for a record-breaking sixth time with a 2-0 win over Atalanta on Wednesday.

While all the spotlight in the match was on Kylian Mbappe, it was Modric who ended up creating a small piece of history for the Spanish giants. 

The Super Cup triumph was Modric's 27th title with Los Blancos and it takes him past Nacho and Carvajal who have all won 26 titles. 

Legends like Alferado Di Stefano, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo have not come close to winning the amount of trophies Modric. 

The Croatian midfielder arrived at Real Madrid in 2012 and since then has won six European Cups, five Club World Cups and European Super Cups, four LaLiga titles, two Copas del Rey and five Spanish Super Cups.
 

On Sunday night Griezmann and his team mates produced a pulsating performance before falling to the ground, hugging and sobbing as world champions.

"I do not know where I am," the stunned 27-year-old said while organisers hurried to set up the presentation stage on the pitch. "We cannot wait to lift the Cup and bring it back to France."

While waiting for the presentation Griezmann burst into tears, seemingly as the enormity of his team's achievement swept over him, and while a rainstorm soaked the Luzhniki arena, the player embraced French president Emmanuel Macron who kissed his forehead and clasped his shoulders.

Once the French had their hands on the coveted golden trophy, Griezmann grasped it and ran down to fans behind the goal to show them the World Cup, before skipping back along the side of the pitch holding it aloft.

And when he finally emerged from his on-pitch celebrations the tears had been replaced by a wide smile.

"Frankly I have not yet realised what we have done," he grinned after being named man-of-the-match.

"The World Cup... it's a lot... I am very proud of this team, the players, the coach, the staff. We were really a united group either on the bench or in the line-up. We did something incredible, we wrote history," he said, downplaying his individual role.

But certainly it had been a virtuoso performance by a player of undoubted talent who finally answered his doubters on the game's biggest stage.

He had stayed calm under pressure, unlocked the Croatian defence and been key to victory.

For now, though, he wanted to look forward.

"Now we will party and tomorrow we will party with France and with all the French people," he said, again breaking into an enormous grin.

"It is France we love. (We have) different origins but we are all united. We are many players with different backgrounds, but we have the same goal, we wear the same jersey, we work for each other.

It was the first time that Video Referee Assistant (VAR) technology was used in a World Cup final but controversial refereeing decsions ensured that a spectacle of the calibre of the final might have been marred by inconsistencies.

Argentine referee Nestor Pitana, who was also took charge of the first match played between Russia and Saudi Arabia was handed the duty to bring the curtain down on the showpiece event.

Both France’s opener and their second goal which handed them the lead in the second half were controversial in their own rights.

The first goal would follow after Antoine Griezmann was fouled outside the area. Griezmann looked to shimmy his way past Marcelo Brozovic, perhaps going down easily under the midfielder's attentions to set up a set piece in a very dangerous area. Replays looked unconvincing as Griezmann looked like he either accidentally tripped himself or went down against minimum contact.

VAR did not intervene due to the guidelines which suggests that it should only intervene in case of goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity. It was not a penalty or a red card incident so VAR did not intervene.

Controversy followed the actual scoring of the goal as well after Mario Mandzukic had scored the first ever own goal in a World Cup final. French midfielder Paul Pogba appeared to be in an offside position when Mandzukic headed into his own net.

The Croatia forward had jumped higher than Pogba and interfered with the play. Notably former Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas had his say on the matter over twitter.

“Honestly, I do not understand the use of VAR very well,” Casillas wrote.

“The referee points to a foul that wasn’t on Griezmann and France’s goal comes from that action and nothing happens.”

Uruguay and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez agreed with the former Real Madrid goalkeeper and wrote: You are right Iker and Paul Pogba was offside when he ‘participates’ in the play.

While the controversies in the first goal may get overlooked, it was France’s second goal ten minutes before half-time which might have changed the tide of the match after Croatia had fought back with a equalizer from Ivan Perisic.

Blaise Matuidi went up for a near-post header, but missed the nod-on. Instead, the ball landed near the defending Perisic's arm, prompting wild gesticulations from French players, pleading for a handball. The ball went out of bounds and was originally ruled a goal kick for Croatia, but the officials decided to use the VAR to check the play.

The referee put his finger to his ear, and after what felt like an eternity, signalled that he would consult the VAR. Whether it was deliberate, or whether Perisic's hand was in an unnatural position was not clear, even after repeated viewing of the incident.

Even when he appeared to come to a decision, the referee quickly spun on the spot and returned to the screen for one quick look before awarding a penalty to France from which Griezmann scored.

It looked highly unlikely that it was a case of deliberate handball and might have even been a case of ball to hand.

Alan Shearer led the criticism of the refree while talking at the BBC studio, claiming Pitana’s decision-making had been “ridiculous” and that both pivotal decisions were, in his opinion, wrong.

“They’re losing this game to a free-kick that wasn’t a free-kick, and penalty that definitely wasn’t penalty,” Shearer said.

Jurgen Klinsmann agreed, while Rio Ferdinand added: “Two bad decisions have really turned this game on its head.”

It was the biggest game in the biggest showpiece event in the world. A game which should have been lit up by the footballing excellence of the participating teams. In a way, that probably was the case. France had the most talented squad in the tournament and they managed to showcase their abilities. However, football is a crazy game where moments can decide the outcome of a match and before the second France goal, Croatia were looking like the better side. Whatever the result, maybe controversies should not lead discussions in the aftermath of such an important game, which is what happened after the final.