Chris Burton likes the look of Spurs' signing and believes the Croatia star will be a success at White Hart Lane.
Chris Burton likes the look of Luka Modric and believes the Croatia star will be a success at Spurs
If any Tottenham supporters needed convincing as to whether £16.5million had been well spent on Luka Modric then the diminutive Croatian playmaker's assured display against Austria should have eased those fears.
What the 22-year-old lacks in stature he more than makes up for in technical ability and possesses the youthful exuberance for the game which sees him come to life with the ball at his feet.
It took him just three minutes to bring Austria under his spell in Vienna, his quick thinking catching a statuesque defence off guard and allowing Ivica Olic to win Slaven Bilic's side a penalty.
A moment which required a cool, calm head under pressure saw Modric answer his country's call as he made no mistake with a drilled spot-kick into the centre of the goal.
He drifted in and out of the contest for large periods thereafter, but he rarely wasted possession and appears to have a useful knack of finding time and space where others would be crowded out.
Creative spark
However, while Modric more than lived up to his pre-tournament billing, Niko Kranjcar looked a shadow of the player who helped Portsmouth to FA Cup glory last season.
The winger is expected to provide the creative speak on which Croatia will feed, but despite trying his luck on both flanks at different points he failed to make a telling impact.
He looked isolated, and disinterested, for large sections of the game and it came as no surprise when he was finally hauled off by Bilic just after the hour-mark.
The third British-based player on display for Croatia was Manchester City defender Vedran Corluka, and he will be pleased with his opening performance.
The Blues ace has much to live up to after Bilic recently described him as "the best full-back in the world."
He may not have lived up to those lofty expectations, but he did enough to prove that he is a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the field.
Rarely tested at the back, Corluka's best moments came on his rare forays forward when he was able to deliver a number of testing balls into the Austrian box.
Austrian rock
Despite his best efforts, disregarding a moment of madness inside the opening five minutes, Austria, who had been expected to wilt under the pressure, looked solid throughout.
Much of the credit for that must go to Middlesbrough's no-nonsense centre-half Emanuel Pogatetz.
'Mad Dog', as he is affectionately known, was booked for his needless remonstrations towards the award of the Croatian penalty, but having got the pent up frustration out of his system he grew stronger as the game wore on.
In fact, he proved to be an unmoveable object at the heart of Josef Hickersberger's defence, providing ample cover to the under-worked former Sunderland and Chelsea keeper Jurgen Macho.
