Modrić and Jovic play full matches as Ødegaard assists twice in international competitions

Martin Ødegaard responded well in Norway’s 4-0 victory over Romania after a previous loss and elimination from EURO 2021 contention on Thursday.

Erling Håland and Ødegaard were kept quiet against Serbia in the EURO Qualifier, but Romania had no similar answer for the duo in the Nations League match on Sunday. Håland scored a hat trick while Ødegaard assisted twice. It was certainly more of what everyone expected from the pair.

They were all over Romania and it was a great sight to see after such disappointing performances the other night. Ødegaard played around 70 minutes and his passing and pace were absolutely on point the entire time.

Simply writing about it can’t do his performance justice, so luckily there is footage to show just how brilliant he was.

It is great football to watch as the world watches two of the brightest young talents build chemistry on an international stage.

Moving into Croatia’s match with Sweden, Luka Modrić captained and played the full 90 minutes for the Vatreni in their Nations League match on Sunday.

Croatia manager Zlatko Dalić went with a diamond formation for his squad. Modrić played in the 10 position behind the two Croatian strikers. This got him heavily involved in the match and he looked quite good for the duration of the match.

Modrić created the play that eventually led to Croatia’s first goal from Nikola Vlašić.

This was Croatia’s first win and points acquired of this current Nations League competition. They had lost the previous two matches two Portugal and France. Even with the victory, Modrić and Croatia are third in their group behind the two aforementioned countries.

Luka Jović also played 90 minutes in Serbia’s Nations League 1-0 loss to Hungary. This was a bit of turnaround from recent events as Jović had been riding the bench.

Jović did not register a goal nor a shot on net. He did have an attempted shot that was off-target. Suffice to say it was not one of his better performances as he wasn’t really involved.

To be fair to Jović, there were several times where he was open and his teammates elected not to pass to him. He has to build up his confidence because he’s still not there fully, which is to be somewhat expected. It’s a step in the right direction, though, for him to play an entire match for the first time in a while.

There is more Nations League action to be had this week as all three players and their respective countries play on Wednesday. Modrić and Croatia play Raphael Varane and Ferland Mendy’s native France while Jović and Serbia take on Turkey.

Ødegaard will look to replicate his magic with Håland in their midweek match against Northern Ireland.