Luka Modric conceded he cannot go on forever as he was left to rue Italy's "cruel" last-gasp equaliser against Croatia, which leaves their hopes of progressing to the Euro 2024 knockout stages hanging by a thread.
The 2018 World Cup finalists looked set to finish as Group B runners-up behind Spain after Modric's 55th-minute strike - just moments after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved his penalty - put them a goal to the good in Leipzig.
However, there was to be a late twist when, in the eighth minute of stoppage time, substitute Mattia Zaccagni curled past Dominik Livakovic to snatch a share of the spoils - and second place from under Croatia's nose.
Amassing just two points, having also conceded a stoppage-time equaliser against Albania, Zlatko Dalic's side failed to win any of their group games at a European Championship for only the second time - also achieving the feat in 2004.
They can still qualify for the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams, but are relying on England beating Slovenia by a three-goal margin in Group C on Tuesday.
That means Modric could well have played his final match at a European Championship where, aged 38 years and 289 days, he became the oldest scorer, and only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo (five) to find the net at four editions.
The Real Madrid midfielder is uncertain about his future.
"I'd like to keep playing forever, but there probably will come a time when I must hang up my boots," he said. "I'll keep playing on, but I don't know for how much longer.
"That was very stressful. We kept battling right until the end but, unfortunately, football was merciless with us tonight. It was cruel above all today, but also in our last match. when we also conceded a late goal.
"But that's part and parcel of football. Often, it gives you plenty of smiles, but on other occasions, it makes you very sad as it did today, losing in the manner we did.
"It's hard when you lose like this to find the words to describe how you feel. Of course, we need to bounce back. But that's the way it is.
"And as I said earlier, perhaps it's unfair because we all really fought for Croatia right from the first whistle until the last, and the result is what it is.
"The footballing gods don't necessarily always smile on us, but we should be proud of the way that we represented our country tonight."
Team-mate Luka Ivanusec added: "I'm empty, we don't know what to say. Until the last minute, we have everything. We are disappointed."
Alonso hails Leverkusen rearguard after stubborn Bayern display
Xabi Alonso was proud of his Bayer Leverkusen players after they produced a resolute defensive performance to earn a 1-1 Bundesliga draw at Bayern Munich.
After Robert Andrich gave Leverkusen the lead, Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic levelled with a stunning half-volley from 25 yards out which gave goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky no chance.
Bayern, who had won all four of their previous league games under Vincent Kompany, had 18 shots to Leverkusen's three and almost 70% of the possession.
That is the fewest shots Leverkusen have attempted in any of their 98 competitive matches under Alonso, while they also generated just 0.07 expected goals (xG) to Bayern's 1.32.
Despite their lack of attacking threat, Alonso was delighted with his side's defensive resilience, saying: "The energy and belief at Bayern is different to last season, they are going full throttle with and against the ball.
"That was very tough today. We can be happy with the point. I needed more energy from the team.
"I'm happy with that. We were ready to suffer and we did that. We need the discipline and passion of the players.
"It wasn't easy, we didn't have control of the ball. It was a challenge to defend. The point is important... The whole team did very well. We hardly had a chance to breathe but I'm very proud of my players."
Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka, who provided the assist for the opener, said their main strategy was to be compact and deny Bayern opportunities to score.
"We are self-critical. If you score three goals every game, that's not enough. If we play well today and switch gears, we can do something," Xhaka said.
"Defensively, we put in a good performance. The goal today was to be compact and concede little. You can certainly do more with the ball and everyone knows that we can do more. If someone had told us before the game that we would get a point, we would have taken it."
Leverkusen will next turn their attention to the Champions League, when they host AC Milan on Tuesday.
Motta defends Juventus talisman Vlahovic after Genoa brace
Juventus boss Thiago Motta lashed out at those criticising striker Dusan Vlahovic after he scored twice in the Bianconeri's 3-0 win over Genoa on Saturday.
Juve continued their fine start to life under Motta with a routine victory at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, Vlahovic netting twice before Francisco Conceicao added a late third.
They have kept a clean sheet in each of their first six matches of a Serie A season for the very first time, also scoring at least twice in five of their last eight games, having done so only once in their previous eight.
Despite Juve's strong run of form, Vlahovic has attracted criticism from some quarters.
Only Christian Pulisic (six) and Marcus Thuram (five) have bettered his four goals in Serie A this term, though, with the Serbian also helping himself to a brace versus Verona.
Motta heaped praise upon Vlahovic after the win, also hailing his defensive work as he said: "No goals conceded is a team effort.
"Scoring goals starts well with [goalkeeper Mattia] Perin and not conceding goals starts with Vlahovic.
"We have a group that wants to defend to have the ball and recover it. This is very important, a team must be solid to aspire to something great."
Motta then added: "Honestly, I think you pay too much attention to a single player. He has always been very good.
"I understand the expectations and needs of a striker at this level. But as I said from the beginning, he is a positive leader who helps a lot.
"I am happy because he scored but I was also happy when he didn't. He must improve and be more connected with the team because he is an important player in many aspects of our game. He is fine and must continue to work as he is doing".
Vlahovic, who has more games with multiple goals than any other player across the last six Serie A seasons (19), said: "The most important thing is that we won and we want to continue like this.
"It's no problem, people talk. If you score you're the best, if you don't you're the worst. It's up to me to respond on the pitch and I will certainly do so.
"Sometimes there are fewer opportunities. People expect me to solve the games and that's normal, I don't run away. I always do everything 100%.
"I'm super calm and I will always give my all on the pitch. For a striker when you don't score it's difficult, but today we won and that's the only thing that matters."
Kompany hopes Kane injury against Leverkusen is 'nothing serious'
Vincent Kompany is hopeful Harry Kane's knock is nothing serious, after the Bayern Munich striker limped off during the 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
The England captain, who did not register a single shot during the game, was injured in a collision late on at the Allianz Arena, where Aleksandar Pavlovic cancelled out Robert Andrich's earlier effort.
The stalemate saw Bayern drop their first points of the Bundesliga season, while they turn their attention back to the Champions League with a trip to face Aston Villa in midweek.
Whether Kane features at Villa Park remains to be seen, but Kompany hopes his forward is fit for a return to England.
"I'm not a doctor, but I hope it's nothing serious," the Bayern boss told Sky Sports. "It's still early to say. Hopefully, he'll be fit for Wednesday."
Although Bayern's 100% start to the league campaign is no more, Kompany saw plenty of positives in his side's display.
"As a Bayern coach, you always want to win," he added. "But the performance was as we'd hoped. The counter-pressing was positive, we won the second balls, we created so many chances.
"Normally, in such a game, you don't create many chances, but we did. It was a top game, but there are still many games to go. We just have to keep going."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
