Danijel Subasic and Sergio Ramos have both confirmed that Luka Modric’s advice was behind the Spanish defender’s botched penalty.

The Croatian midfielder is teammates with Ramos at Real Madrid but were on opposite sides on Tuesday.

Ramos squandered a chance to put his side ahead in the 72nd minute as Subasic pulled off the save before Ivan Perisic drilled home his 87th minute effort to send his side top of Group D.

‘Well, what can you say? Penalties are a lottery, similar to us having the penalty against the Czech Republic in the last minute.’ goalkeeper Danijel Subasic told the media after the game.

‘The guy struck it well, I waited a little bit and blocked it and we’re lucky to have come back. [Darijo Srna] whispered to me [before the penalty] that, basically [Sergio Ramos’s Real Madrid team-mate] Luka [Modrić] told him to wait and to go to my right, so that’s what happened and it worked.’

Ramos also confirmed Modric’s role in the penalty drama.

‘[Modrić] told him to wait and to go to his right, so that’s what happened and it worked. He knows me very well. We train together every day and it’s true that he [the goalkeeper] waited until the last second and I ended up changing my mind about where to hit it at the last moment. You can only miss them if you take them.

‘I hope it’s not crucial come the end of the competition. I’d prefer to miss a penalty in the group stage than in the semi-finals or the last 16.’

Spain will now play Italy in the round of 16.

Photo: Regis Duvignau/Reuters