Dejan Lovren says Croatia’s victory over Spain “shut them up” and has appeared to continue his ongoing feud with Sergio Ramos.
Luka Modric said the result proved their run to the 2018 World Cup final “wasn’t an accident”, having lost 6-0 to Spain in their Nations League opener in September.
Liverpool defender Lovren accused Spain’s players of showing a lack of grace in defeat.
“They are, I don’t know how to call it, rude on the field,” he said. “They fall down without reason.
“I would also point out that in fair play matches they should show respect, because when we lost 6-0 against them we respected them.”
Lovren reportedly taunted Spain and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos in an Instagram live video taken in the Croatia dressing room immediately after the match.
It follows an ongoing feud between the players which stretches back to the Champions League final.
Lovren followed the video up by posting a picture of him beating Ramos to a header with the message “good morning Croatia”.
The win over Spain means either Croatia or England will now win Group A4 and qualify for the knockout stages with victory at Wembley on Sunday, while the losing side will be relegated.
“Now we have this let’s say a ‘final’ against the English,” he said. “I think we’ll be brave, we don’t have anything to lose.
“We know them, they know us, it will be feisty, but that’s how it should be.
“Of course we’re going for the win.”
Ramos’ club team-mate Modric believes beating Spain may have come at a cost ahead of their trip to Wembley.
“I hope that we will be able to recover,” said Modric. “We have a lot of fresh players, some came on tonight and brought us a new dimension, another energy, which is important.
“We’ll see who can and who can’t do it. We’ll try to play a good match there. We are hoping for qualification.”