Player Power: Luka Modric Rant Leads to Zlatko Dalic Replacing Ante Cacic as Croatia Manager

Croatia's draw against Finland in Rijeka on Friday evening has put the national team at risk of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Croatian national team's most influential player and captain, Luka Modric was upset with the team's result and blamed manager Ante Cacic for their poor form.

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As a result of the 32-year-old's rant, the Croatia board have sacked Cacic and appointed Zlatko Dalic as the new manager, the Independent reports.

Following Croatia's draw with Finland which saw Iceland go top of group I in the qualifiers, Modric took to the press to vent his frustrations at Cacic: 

"What do we do now? We started with him and now we have to just keep going," the captain said. "Until our match with Iceland, everything was fine and now all of a sudden nothing is of any worth.

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"That's the honest truth, the situation is catastrophic, but we still have a chance to make it right."

In order for Croatia to qualify for the tournament, they will have to beat Ukraine in their upcoming match with the new manager at the helm.

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Modric showed his lack of trust in Cacic after brutally being honest about the plight of the Croatia side's performance recently.

"What happened? Nothing, we have only just compromised our path to the World Cup," he said.  "When we were looking for the goal, we had a few chances and initiative. When we scored, it was unbelievable that we would retreat against Finland, of all teams.

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"That Croatia was waiting for the final whistle against that kind of national team is…It is unbelievable that we are struggling against teams like Kosovo and Finland, where before we would have beaten them with ease."

With Dalic in charge, many of the Croatia faithful including Modric will expect the team to get the win necessary to qualify for Russia.