Speaking to HTV (via 24Sata), former Croatian international Joško Jeličić has been discussing Josko Gvardiol after his heroic performance against Belgium in the World Cup.
Gvardiol put in a Man of the Match showing against the Red Devils on Thursday evening as Croatia dumped Roberto Martinez’s side out of the tournament.
Gvardiol was immense against Belgium, nobody could get past him on the day, and his last-minute tackle on Romelu Lukaku was a game-saving challenge.
Understandably, the local press went into overdrive after the game praising Gvardiol, and Jeličić went as far as to say that Gvardiol is the best Croatian footballer in history at his age, putting him above the likes of Luka Modric and Davor Suker as teenagers.
Gvardiol hailed
The reported Tottenham target was hailed as the best Croatian youngster ever.
“Joško Gvardiol is the best Croatian football player in history at the age of 20! At that age, neither Modrić nor Zvone Boban nor Veliki Žuti Prosinečki nor Šuker nor my Bokšić played at that level. And he is aware of his quality, unlike Kovačić, who is not aware of how good he is,” said Joško Jeličić on HTV.
Hard to argue
While Croatia have produced some of the world’s best players over the past few generations, it’s hard to argue that Gvardiol isn’t the best youngster we’ve seen from this country.
Yes, Luka Modric is a Ballon d’Or winning superstar, but at the age of 20 he hadn’t even made his international debut, never mind starring in a World Cup.
Of course, whether or not Gvardiol goes on to become one of the world’s best players a la Modric remains to be seen, but he’s certainly on the path to greatness right now.
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