Bilić urges Modrić to be Europe's best

'Unbelievable player'
Modrić, 22, showed impeccable calm by slotting his spot-kick down the middle of Jürgen Macho's goal four minutes into the Group B opener at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion – nothing less than Croatia's management anticipated. "He's a calm player," explained Bilić. "He's very mature for his age. I told him a few weeks ago, and even just before the game, that I'm expecting him to be the best player of the tournament. And he knows I mean it. [It wasn't] to put more weight on his shoulders because he's still unbelievably young – it was to give him a boost and because I really believe it. He's already an unbelievable player, one of the best in Europe, and he'll just get better and better in the tournament, and better and better in his career."

'Complete midfielder'
He had already done enough to prompt Tottenham Hotspur FC to splash out €21m on his services, and Modrić's former Under-21 trainer Bilić thinks the Premier League club will soon be thinking they have a bargain on their hands: "Luka is a world-class player and there's no better person than myself and [assistant coach Aljoša] Asanović to tell you this. We know him from the U21 team when he was 18 years old. As he grew up as a player, I grew up as a coach. He's such a modern footballer and it's incredible how strong he is as a person as well. He's such a modern player that in Croatia they're arguing about where he should play: in defence, as a striker or as a midfielder. He's just a phenomenon – a complete midfielder – and he's our key player. I am more than 100 per cent sure that Luka will become a top player for Tottenham and in the whole Premiership."