Croatia national team captain, Luka Modric, has refuted the “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) tag ascribed to Lionel Messi after eulogizing the late Diego Armando Maradona.

Many football stakeholders believe that Lionel Messi’s greatness surpasses that of Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona, and all the others that came before him but that claim can never stick without a FIFA World Cup trophy.

Lionel Messi after losing the 2014 World Cup to Germany has another opportunity to write his name in gold but will have to eliminate Croatia to reach the finals of the 2022 Mundial.

Despite admitting the greatness of Lionel Messi, Luka Modric named Diego Armando Maradona as the greatest ahead of Croatia’s semi-final game against Argentina.

“For me, Maradona is the greatest. Lionel Messi is a great player but Diego is Diego,” Luka Modric said, as quoted by popular football enthusiast Frank Khalid on Twitter.

Argentina and Croatia will clash in the first semi-final game at the Lusail Iconic Stadium and kickoff will be at 7pm.