Gvardiol shines at World Cup as Croatia win third-place match

AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP):

IN WHAT may have been Luka Modrić’s final World Cup match, Joško Gvardiol made a play to be Croatia’s next go-to guy.

Modrić has been the man in the middle for Croatia for more than a decade, leading the team to the World Cup final four years ago and the semifinals of this year’s tournament. But at 37, his time at the top is surely coming to an end.

Modrić was again central to Croatia’s 2-1 victory over Morocco for third place at the World Cup on Saturday, but it was Gvardiol that stepped up from the back at Khalifa International Stadium.

“We made a comeback,” said Gvardiol, referring to Tuesday’s loss to Argentina in the semifinals.

“We knew we had to be focused and show grit. Today we proved we deserved third place. We are going home celebrating.”

Gvardiol, wearing a black mask after breaking his nose during a Bundesliga match last month, plays a different position and looks to be nearly twice the size of the diminutive No. 10. But at 20 years old he is also almost half the age of Modric and plays like a veteran rather than someone who was still the age of a high school student when Croatia lost to France only four years ago in the 2018 final.

Nicknamed ‘Little Pep’ because of the similarities between his last name and that of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Gvardiol scored Croatia’s opening goal in the seventh minute of Saturday’s match with a diving header.

His head was involved on the other end of the field as well. As a centre back playing just behind Modrić, Gvardiol was constantly being called upon to shoo away Morocco’s chances, to keep the area clear of red shirts and keep the ball out of his team’s net.

He did that, and he was named player of the match because of it.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić, reflecting on Gvardiol’s imposing presence throughout the tournament in Qatar, said the defender deserved to be named the best young player of the World Cup.

“If not the best young player, he must be in the competition for the best young player,” Dalic said. “Usually the forwards, the top scorers, are considered for this award, but Josko has proven that defence players deserve this and I believe he deserves the award.”