THERE would have been a fair share of winces when Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic revealed his World Cup squad – there certainly was here in Southampton.

Working with your new teammates and manager closely over the international break is small consolation for the man missing out on an, at most, few-in-a-career opportunity.

Duje Caleta-Car has already experienced a World Cup as good as it has ever got for his country, with a run to the final at 22 years old largely exceeding his wildest dreams.

It is only these past few months that the centre-back has seen his Croatia involvement reduced and not even a move to the Premier League has rescued it in time for Qatar.

Read more: Selles reveals Sport Republic conversations that led to Southampton

Caleta-Car was left out of the squad in September after Marseille stopped playing him once they became determined to cash in this summer – his last 90 minutes had been in May.

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Although circumstances then saw him become a regular starter under previous Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, the 26-year-old’s own admission is he “didn’t start very well”.

“It was a crazy achievement, what happened in 2018,” Caleta-Car recalls to the Daily Echo, after reminding us he only made his international debut just two weeks earlier versus Brazil.

“That is the hardest game maybe you can play as a professional player. I was really young and the World Cup was another really big experience for me, I think I was the youngest player in the group.

“For me, as a younger player, it was something different,” he added. “It’s really good for any player to be at a World Cup and feel this energy, and we played a crazy tournament coming to the final.

“Maybe I will feel it again but maybe only one time in your life this tournament, this good pressure, with your whole country supporting you.”

Caleta-Car was part of the supporting cast to the group of players who even outshone legendary forward Davor Suker and his generation of third-place finishers.

The former RB Leipzig and Marseille ace played 90 minutes of their third group stage match, sitting behind Dejan Lovren and Dom Vida for the rest up to the France final.

But in the year following the achievement, Croatia had to undergo transition with Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic and Vedran Corluka retiring – largely under the assumption it cannot get better.

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“Maybe after the World Cup we didn’t have the best results because a lot of young players came in and it was difficult for us,” Caleta-Car admitted, going on to play in EURO 2020 and reaching only the last 16.

“As we know we cannot be in every tournament’s final, we are a small country so it was the biggest achievement in our history. You cannot expect more.

“After these players retired, it was really difficult for the coach because he has to build again the team. As time has gone on we can start to play well, I am looking forward to seeing what we achieve at the World Cup.”

Croatia have not remained without promise for very long; they have lost just once in 16 matches since and will play in the Nations League finals in the Netherlands next year.

In large parts, their success has been down to having one of the world’s all-time best midfielders in their ranks for 16 years.

Captain Luke Modric was the first player to win the Ballon d’Or, other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, since Kaka in 2007, when he followed up the World Cup Golden Ball award in 2018.

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The former Tottenham Hotspur star has 155 caps for Croatia and just the five Champions League medals for club Real Madrid.

“To be with him in every training session is something beautiful for young players. When he is with you, every player is 30 per cent better,” Caleta-Car smiled.

“When he talks to you in the dressing room or on the pitch, you listen. Every player is better with him. What I like now is he is 37 years old and he is loving football, in every game he wants to be the best and looks after his body.

“For us players, you can just learn from him. We hope in Croatia it is not his last tournament. I saw he gave an interview and said maybe the World Cup will be, but we have the Nations League so I hope for Croatia he will stay with us.

“Maybe even for 2024, he is doing really well for his age and every time he is on the same level.”

Caleta-Car was in Doha with the national team in March this year as part of a warm-up camp, but when Croatia begin their World Cup campaign versus Morocco at 10AM today, he will be watching from home.

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