Croatia Accuse England of Injuring Eduardo and Luka Modric

Croatia have implied that their star players have been intentionally injured ahead of their crucial World Cup encounter with England at Wembley next week.

The Croatians will look to halt England's hopes of World Cup qualification with another famous victory against their rivals, but according to Croatian FA president Vlatko Markovic, that task will be made all the harder due to the absence of Tottenham Hotspur ace Luka Modric.

Markovic has suggested Modric could have been deliberately injured by English players, whilst also pointing to the case of Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva.

He said: "First Eduardo, now Luka Modric. This is horrible. I can only ask myself if it was really an accident.

"I'm close to thinking it was done to us deliberately before the England match. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what happened to Luka. He is irreplaceable."

The Croatian FA president went on to praise Modric even further, comparing him to current great players in the game, as well as highlighting his importance in the national team.

He added: "Modric is the most important player of our national team. With him, everything starts and ends.

"Luka is for us as important as Andres Iniesta for Barcelona or Michael Ballack used to be for Bayern Munich. Without him we will be much weaker.

"There's nothing else we can do but keep our heads up and go on."

These comments are not likely to be well received in England, with many saying Croatia are trying to play mind games with the English, or simply looking for excuses if they fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

Birmingham City were playing against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane when Modric got injured, and it was a challenge from Birmingham's Lee Bowyer that has been accredited with causing the injury (a fractured fibula) to the Croatian star.

And Birmingham City chairman David Gold is not too pleased with these recent accusations from the Croatia FA president, calling his comments a "joke."

Gold said: "It's quite unbelievable. I had to check it wasn't 1st April, I thought it was a joke.

"To suggest a conspiracy is nonsense. To suggest it was a deliberate act by English players to weaken the Croatia squad is absolutely ridiculous.

Like many however, Gold has suggested that it's translation problems which could have resulted in these comments appearing very controversial.

He continued: "Maybe the problem is the statement by the Croatian official has completely been lost in translation?"

If it has indeed been lost in translation, then we will most likely be hearing new comments released in the next few days giving an explanation to what Markovic said.

However, if these comments are meant in the way they have currently been perceived, then it will only add fuel to the fire of England's rivalry with Croatia, and make it even sweeter should they beat Croatia at Wembley and qualify as group winners for the finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.