Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic has joked he could be in trouble with his wife following Croatia’s 2-1 win over Spain in Euro 2016. 

The 28-year old, who is married to a Spaniard, believes his side had to be at their best to defeat a team he has labelled the world’s best.

‘We played against the best team in the world,’ he told AS.

‘If you don’t work hard, they lead you on a dance.

‘We didn’t close down well on the first goal, there was a lot of room and we were punished. With very little they have punished us.’

Spain took the lead in the tie early on through Alvaro Morata, but Croatia fought back to win the game late on.

‘Let’s enjoy today’s victory and then think about what comes. If we keep this up we can do something nice.

‘I’ll have to explain to my wife what’s happened,’ he joked.

‘It’s a divided heart but anyone who knows me knows we have a lot of Spain shirts at home.’

Rakatic also commented on how it felt facing many of his Barcelona teammates on the pitch. ‘I like that the Barca players are on my team. The tempo they had was impressive. They’ve brought to the national team how they finished the season for Barca.’

Rakatic featured in all three of Croatia’s fixtures as they topped Group D ahead of Spain, while the midfielder also managed a goal against Czech Republic.