The moment Morata prepared to shoot, the Spanish supporters rose to their feet and watched intently.
When Morata was forced to drag the ball backward, they bent their knees and started sitting down again.
Then Leo Lin struck his curling shot, and the Spanish supporters, only halfway into their seats, immediately sprang back up.
Leo Lin's effort did not disappoint them.
"A curling shot from an incredibly wide angle!"
"Leo Lin! Leo Lin! Leo Lin! Leo Lin! Leo Lin! Leo Lin!"
"This extraordinarily difficult, sweeping curler shows exactly how far he can combine a midfielder's technique with a forward's finishing!"
"An ordinary forward couldn't produce that because he wouldn't have a midfielder's touch. An ordinary midfielder couldn't do it either because he wouldn't have a forward's accuracy!"
"Only Leo Lin possesses both qualities, allowing him to produce a curling shot like that!"
"Whenever Modrić's Croatia fall behind, they use a passing pattern built around several fixed positions to help their midfielders score!"
"Modrić's first-half goal began with Brozović's pass and ultimately brought Croatia level!"
"Now Modrić and Croatia must find another way to equalize!"
Zubizarreta had no intention of allowing Modrić to pull Croatia level again. Since he understood how Croatia's attacking system worked, he naturally knew how to defend against it.
The 70th minute!
Rodri kept watching. He appeared to be running toward Rebić, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on Brozović.
When Livaković passed to Modrić and Modrić controlled the ball, Brozović began to move.
This time, Rodri first closed down Modrić, then combined with Leo Lin to block the passing lane toward Brozović.
Pedri immediately applied pressure, and Spain quickly surrounded Modrić.
Gvardiol, who had started at left-back, rushed across again. He had already realized that Modrić was about to lose possession.
Leo Lin and Gvardiol collided once more.
Gvardiol threw himself into clearing the ball out of play, preventing Leo Lin from winning it. Spain still gained possession from the throw-in, but at least Leo Lin could not immediately charge forward with the ball. Gvardiol had reduced Croatia's risk as much as possible.
"Look at how intelligently Gvardiol defends. He had very little time to react, but he knew exactly what to do to minimize the danger to Croatia's back line."
"Liverpool have to sign him. The deal can't merely be close. He needs to have already joined!"
At this stage of the match, Stam would have given Gvardiol Croatia's second-highest rating, behind only Modrić.
Croatia finally used their strongest remaining option. Kramarić came on, refreshing their attack on the right.
"Kramarić is coming on, just as expected!"
"Don't underestimate him. Whenever Kramarić plays on the right, he shows tremendous ability to create goals!"
But what followed became Gayà's moment to shine at left-back for Spain.
"Modrić plays the through ball! Kramarić is up against Gayà!"
"Kramarić cuts inside, but Gayà blocks his path and steps in at exactly the right moment!"
"Kramarić hurriedly shields the ball, but Gayà keeps pressing! They're battling shoulder to shoulder!"
"Gayà clears it! He went to ground and used his left leg to knock the ball away from the inside of Kramarić's body. That was supposed to be Kramarić's protected side. Most defenders could never reach the ball from there!"
After Gayà successfully stopped Kramarić, Leo Lin immediately encouraged him.
"Great work, Gayà!"
Hearing Leo Lin's praise gave Gayà even more energy, and he began defending Kramarić with greater aggression.
The 86th minute!
"Kramarić moves like a Croatian bullet!"
"He charges toward Gayà, but there are no sparks. Gayà is like a Spanish magazine, swallowing that Croatian bullet whole!"
"Leo Lin receives the ball and loads the magazine into the chamber. Croatia's attack is over once again!"
Croatia's supporters knew their team would struggle to hold Spain off any longer.
In the end, Spain eliminated Croatia and advanced to the European Championship quarterfinals, becoming the second team to reach the last eight.
"Croatia are officially out of the European Championship. Their tournament ends in the round of 16."
"You can't say that result will satisfy their supporters, but you also won't hear Croatia's fans claiming they are disappointed in their team."
"They will simply continue supporting Croatia until the next major international tournament begins."
"By then, however, Modrić may truly be too old. Whether he can still perform as he has at this European Championship remains unknown."
"What we do know is that Spain have reached the quarterfinals. Many of their players are appearing at the European Championship for the first time, yet none of them froze under pressure. They held off Croatia and have taken another step forward in the tournament!"
Leo Lin encouraged all the Spanish supporters to applaud Modrić.
At Modrić's urging, the Croatian supporters began chanting Leo Lin's name. The Spanish supporters responded by chanting Modrić's.
It was the first time Modrić had remained on the pitch smiling after a defeat.
Leo Lin stayed beside him.
A day later, Modrić sat beside Stam.
Leo Lin was still beside him.
"We know this is somewhat cruel. After all, Modrić, only yesterday you were eliminated by the Spain team featuring Lin."
"But an opportunity to interview both of you together may never come again, so we took a chance and invited you."
"We weren't sure you would accept. Gullit even insisted that you definitely wouldn't!"
"However, we heard that as soon as you learned Lin would be joining you for the interview, you happily agreed. That is why we have been able to bring both of you here today!"
Before the joint interview began, Scholes thanked Modrić for being gracious enough to accept the invitation.
Had Scholes just been eliminated from a European Championship that was still underway, he certainly would not have appeared there.
Leo Lin gently bumped his shoulder against Modrić's.
Modrić greeted all the supporters watching the interview.
"To be honest, I really didn't want to come at first. But when I heard Lin would be here, I changed my mind."
"He is the player who eliminated me, but he is also a player who has earned my respect."
"I haven't given many interviews during my career, and this is my first joint interview. But being around Lin always makes me happy."
Leo Lin smiled at Modrić.
"I feel the same way. Being beside Modrić makes me happy."
Gullit joined in.
"Being beside both of you makes me happy too!"
Stam covered Gullit's mouth.
"Gullit, nobody asked you."