“The easy way out would have been to stay on the half-way line and say ‘I missed one, I’d rather not [take another]’ and everyone would have said ‘that’s fine, that’s acceptable’.
"But that’s not what sport’s about; it’s not what football’s about; it’s not what life’s about.”
The words were Stuart Pearce’s, reflecting in a recent documentary about volunteering to take a penalty when he was defined by a famous miss.
Six years separated the spot kick the England left-back drilled against Bodo Illgner’s legs in the 1990 semi-final shoot-out and the one he converted, to a cathartic celebration, against Spain in Euro 96.
There were only four minutes of football between the penalty Kasper Schmeichel saved from Luka Modric in Denmark’s last-16 meeting with Croatia and the subsequent shoot-out.
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Modric stood up again and, if not entirely convincingly, converted. He scored again in the quarter-final shoot-out against Russia.
Talk of character and a ferocious tackler like Pearce, with thighs the size of a small country, may spring to mind.
Modric may have the slender frame of a 12-year-old boy but he has demonstrated his determination, scoring healing penalties, playing incisive passes, running midfields and running himself into the ground. He has been craftsman and warrior.
“When you see him sprinting after 115 minutes to retrieve a ball, it shows his desire,” said manager Zlatko Dalic.
And that was before the semi-final against England, where Modric could barely move when he was eventually substituted, but he turned the game by dictating it.
He will do something that even Zvonimir Boban, whose status as Croatia’s greatest ever captain was cemented in the 1998 tournament and went unquestioned until now, never did by captaining them in a World Cup final.
Perhaps a quadruple Uefa Champions League winner has reached new heights. “He is playing the best football of his life,” said Dalic this week.
No one in the World Cup final has completed more passes or created more chances than Modric.
Few have as many defining contributions: the rifled goal against Argentina, the inch-perfect pass to release Ante Rebic when he won the penalty against Denmark, the spot kicks he scored in successive shoot-outs.
If assessing Modric can be complicated, so is his relationship with penalties. A decade ago, a hugely gifted Croatia team lost a Euro 2008 quarter-final to Turkey when Modric and Ivan Rakitic, along with Mladen Petric, missed from 12 yards.
Ten years later, the two midfielders have scored in both shoot-outs.
And yet the redemptive narrative is complicated by the reality that Modric faces a perjury charge in his own country that could carry a five-year jail term for his testimony in the trial of the former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic.
The prospect of a World Cup-winning captain being sent to prison seems unlikely. Yet much is improbable about Croatia’s story, as a country of just 4.1 million bid to beat the footballing and demographic odds by emerging triumphant.
Along the way, Modric is becoming the centre of attention. He is already part of the first side since Bayern Munich in the 1970s to win three consecutive European Cups, but Cristiano Ronaldo showed a propensity to overshadow everyone else at Real Madrid.
Modric and Rakitic had seemed Croatia’s version of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, excellent individually but incompatible.
Now they may instead be their Xavi and Andres Iniesta, likeminded passers who conquer the world with an ethos. Yet it is not just technical talent that has taken Modric this far.
He has embodied a side who have gone behind in each of their three knockout games and recovered to progress, twice on penalties.
It has been a triumph of character. His, in particular.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Company%20Profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5