Former Real Madrid teammates, Luka Modric and Casemiro, swapped shirts during the half-time of Brazil vs. Croatia FIFA World Cup quarter-final clash at the Education City Stadium in Qatar.
Modric and Casemiro, along with Toni Kroos, formed a formidable partnership at the heart of Los Blancos’ midfield for the better part of the previous decade.
They won five UEFA Champions League trophies together for the Spanish giants. However, Casemiro decided to call time on his stint in the Spanish capital this summer, making a switch to Manchester United to start a new chapter in his career.
Modric has flourished despite Casemiro’s absence. At 37, he is still one of the best midfielders in the world and continues to be an important piece of Carlo Ancelotti’s puzzle at Real Madrid.
The mutual respect between Modric and Casemiro, however, remains the same. It was on display at half-time of the Brazil vs. Croatia clash in the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday, 9th December.
Casemiro walked behind Modric as both teams started going down the tunnel for the break. He asked the Croatian star to swap shirts with him. The game was still poised at a scoreline of 0-0.
A major part of Tite’s side’s job was to neutralize midfield maestro Modric during the game. Brazil star Vinicius Jr. told the media ahead of the game that Casemiro had to take responsibility for the task. The Real Madrid star said (via Mirror):
“Playing against Modric is going to be very special. As far as neutralising him goes, I’ll leave that to Casemiro because he can do a better job than me! He knows Modric really well because they played together for a long time.”
Luka Modric and Croatia advanced to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with win against Brazil
The game between Brazil and Croatia was goalless until injury time of the first half of extra time. Neymar Jr. drew first blood when he scored a magnificent goal after weaving through the Croatian defense.
However, Luka Modric and Co. refused to give up. Their toil paid back when Bruno Petkovic’s deflected effort found the back of Alisson Becker’s net in the 117th minute of the game.
The game went to penalties. Croatia scored from all four of their shots. When Luka Modric stepped up to take the third penalty for his country, Casemiro showed him respect by handing him the ball.
Brazil, however, could only score two of their attempted four penalties. Rodrygo’s effort – the first for his team – was saved and Marquinhos hit the post on the must-score fourth attempt.
Croatia have now advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row. Finalists in 2018, Zlatko Dalic’s lot will take on either Argentina or the Netherlands in the last eight.