Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol is gearing up for Euro 2024 with Croatian, and the star has been reflecting on his rise for the national team.
Gvardiol has just finished his first season at the Etihad Stadium, and it was a pretty good campaign from the 22-year-old.
He took some times to find his feet, having come in from RB Leipzig for £77 million, and had to quickly learn how to play a new position.
Towards the end of 2023/24, Gvardiol really started to thrive and finished the season as one of City’s most in-form players.
Croatia are in a group with Spain, Italy and Albania and have hopes of making it out and into the knockout stages. It will be tough, but we have seen Croatia perform well at international tournaments in recent times.
Key to them going far will be big players like Gvardiol rising to the occasion. He’s now racked up 30 caps for his country, and his first competitive one came against England when he was just 19 – and the star has reflected on that game.
Josko Gvardiol recalls facing Man City duo Kyle Walker and Phil Foden for Croatia against England
Gvardiol has given an interview with Goal about his rise in the national team, ahead of Euro 2024.
The star is hoping to help his country go as far as possible in the tournament, which officially gets underway on Friday.
He has been around the national team for a fair while now, with his debut coming in 2021 against Belgium. That was only a friendly match though, and Gvardiol’s competitive debut actually came against England at Euro 2020.
And Gvardiol – who was recently branded the signing of the season by Peter Schmeichel – remembers thinking ahead to that game, and admits he couldn’t believe he was about to face them – and two of his now-teammates at City – as a 19-year-old.
He said: “I remember that day for sure, from the way to the stadium.
“We like to play some Croatian songs before the game and before the kick-off, and I remember sitting in the bus listening to the music and I just couldn’t believe that I was about to face England at the age of 19.
“I knew that I’d be coming up against Kyle Walker and Phil Foden on my side.
“There was pressure, that’s something we face every day no matter if it’s on the pitch or in real life, at home.
“The thing was I knew how to deal with it so from the kick-off, the very first minute, I switched my mindset and I started to be me.”
England went on to win that game 1-0, with Raheem Sterling – a City player at the time – the goalscorer.
A humble admission
It is interesting to hear Gvardiol reflect back on his competitive debut that saw him come up against Kyle Walker and Phil Foden.
He clearly felt it was a big moment for him, which is understandable considering it was at Euro 2020 with England among the favourites to win the tournament.
Walker was – and still is – one of the best right-backs in the world at the time, and Foden was also one of the most promising youngsters in the game. So it is little wonder Gvardiol felt a bit of pressure.
City fans are looking forward to seeing how Gvardiol gets on this summer for Croatia. they are in a tough group with Spain and Italy, but we know they are very capable of progressing to the knockout stages.
He finished the season really well, despite his mistake against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, and hopefully he can have a big influence for his country out in Germany.