Dele Alli: It would be nice to nutmeg Luka Modric again for England | Daniel Taylor

The midfielder had the confidence as a teenager to show up Croatia’s maestro but ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final confesses to being dissatisfied with some World Cup displays

Did you ever hear about the time the teenage Dele Alli nutmegged Luka Modric? August 2015, to be precise, for Spurs in the Audi Cup at the Allianz Arena, Munich. Alli was 19, a £5m signing from Milton Keynes Dons thrown into the deep end against Real Madrid, and at least he was courteous enough not to ruffle Modric’s hair, Gazza-style, as he slipped the ball through his opponent’s legs. Modric, he recalls, collared him in the tunnel and called him a “little bugger”. Though the suspicion remains that he might have toned down the language.

Related: Dele Alli finally finds the freedom to make his mark on world stage | Dominic Fifield

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