Ivan Perisic has heaped praise on Croatia team-mate Luka Modric, ahead of his team’s quarter-final game against hosts Russia at World Cup 2018.

Speaking to the media, prior to the last-eight clash, the Inter Milan forward said: “He’s our captain, he’s our leader. We all stand behind him. Sure, he is one of the best players here so far, but we still have a few games to play.”

“It doesn’t really matter who gets individual awards, it’s important that the team does as good as possible.”

Meanwhile, Ante Rebic too has the same thoughts about the former Tottenham midfieder.

“Luka is our captain, our best player,” he said.

“It’s too early to talk about the best player of the tournament, because we are still only at the quarter-final stage, but that doesn’t matter as much as the team performance.”

Croatia will be facing Russia on Saturday, and the winner of the encounter will go on to face either England or Sweden in the semi-finals of the tournament.