Modric – Barça interest motivates me to play better

Croatia international Luka Modric has admitted he feels flattered by being eyed by Barcelona, after Spain’s assistant manager Paco Jimenez revealed, earlier on Saturday, that the Catalans’ scouts were closely monitoring the Spurs midfielder.

When asked about such claims, Modric replied: “Of course, I love to hear things like that, but it just motivates me more to play better and show that I can be even more dangerous.”

“This is the match in which all of us can prove ourselves. We are convinced that we can reach the quarter finals.”

The 26-year-old man also expressed his hopes that Croatia can put on a strong performance against Spain, on Group C’s final round, on Monday.

“It is a big challenge for all of us to play a team like Spain. Of course, they'll control possession, and for how long, that probably depends on them,” he continued.

“However, we have to posture solid in the middle, try to block their play and push them as far from our goal as possible.”

“As I said before, I'm convinced that there will be periods where we'll be on top. That means that we'll have some chances, and we'll have to take one of them.”

“Mario [Mandzukic] is fantastic. He is fast, explosive; the player which can score even from the most difficult situations. But it is important to provide him chances to score.”

Euro 2012 2012/06/18, 19:45, Gdansk Croatia 0:1 Spain  Jesús Navas 88' Video 00:42 Watch video > Match Events >