Friday, 12th December, 2014
Croatia manager Niko Kovac feels Luka Modric’s thigh injury was a result of the Real Madrid player playing too many games early in the season.
The midfielder, who has already made 17 appearances for all competitions for Los Blancos in the present campaign, picked up the injury during his nation’s 1-1 draw with Italy in a 2016 European Championship qualifier last month.
Modric is expected to remain sidelined until March, but Kovac explained that the former Tottenham Hotspur man’s recovery process is going smoothly.
The manager, who rested Modric for Croatia’s 2-1 friendly loss to Argentina, just four days prior to their qualifier against Italy, believes he did the right thing by not playing the 29-year-old against the South American nation, despite coming under heavy criticism for the decision.
"We travelled to Munich with the Real Madrid doctor to visit Dr. Wolfhart-Muller in order to get a second opinion on Luka's injury”, Kovac was quoted as saying by Spanish daily Marca.
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“He confirmed what we had been told by the club in Madrid. It's quite a serious problem, but his recovery is going well and we hope to see him out on the pitch again in March.
"This injury came about because of the high number of games Luka played in, and to think that I'd been strongly criticised for resting him against Argentina.
“I knew he had to be rested because I was a player and played two or three times a week for a long time. I know how hard it is."
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