DOHA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Croatia midfielder Luka Modric said Thursday that he would provide inside information to his teammates about how to stop Brazil's Vinicius Junior when the teams meet in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The Real Madrid colleagues get along well on and off the pitch but will be fierce rivals at Education City stadium on Friday.
"I will give some advice to my teammates," Modric told a pre-match news conference here. "They all know his quality. If I can help them to neutralize him, I will try to do that."
The comments came a day after Vinicius singled out Modric for praise, crediting the 37-year-old for his own rapid improvement since arriving at the Bernabeu in 2018.
"It's very nice to hear him compliment me," Modric said. "He's a great guy and we have a very strong relationship. He's incredibly fit and made great progress since joining Real Madrid. He's demonstrated it at this World Cup. We have a difficult task to try to stop him and we'll both be trying our best to help our countries."
Modric admitted Brazil was favorite to advance to the semifinals against either the Netherlands or Argentina.
"Brazil have phenomenal players in defense, midfield and attack," Modric said. "We know that we'll have to play at a high tempo to keep them under control and contain them. We have to be very strong and assertive and not give them space."
Modric declined to comment on whether this World Cup would mark the swansong to his international career, saying "there would be time to think about that later."
But he made clear Croatia's desire to advance beyond the last eight and perhaps even go one better than their runners-up finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
"We've done very well to get to the quarterfinals but we want more," Modric said. "This will be our biggest match of the World Cup so far. Brazil are one of the big favorites, they are always favorites.
"We have to be ourselves and give our best to have the best possible chance of winning. We can't be satisfied with reaching the quarterfinals." ■
