Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said that a painful memory inspired his players to overcome Luka Modric's extra time penalty miss against Denmark in Sunday's World Cup last-16 match, when they rallied to win after a penalty shootout.

With just four minutes left in extra time and the score locked at 1-1, Modric's kick, had it been successful, would likely have spared Croatia the dreaded shootout, like the one they lost against Turkey at Euro 2008, which was held in Austria and Switzerland. But Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel sprang to his left and kept out the kick - setting Croatian minds racing back a decade.

"After Modric's missed penalty, all of us harked back to Vienna and that situation where we lost to Turkey in 2008," Dalic said. The coach said the fact that Croatia emerged victorious this time was down to team spirit, "When Luka missed his penalty, his teammates believed they could do it."