The left-back discovered his goal-scoring touch in the Premier League and now has his sights set on glory with his country in Germany
Josko Gvardiol leans forward and casts his mind back to when he was a teenager and when he realised he had a real chance to become a professional footballer. He had been in the youth ranks of Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb since he was a child, but when he got to the B team, he realised he was just one step away. And he knew it was the time to knuckle down.
A friend of his father Tihomir, who had been an amateur footballer and earned a living selling fish at a market, drew Gvardiol a mental map plotting the road to success. He put it on his bedroom wall to remind him what it took to realise his dream and to focus on the things that matter.
“It is a small map at the moment. It’s framed on the wall, it’s just something I used to look at, it’s written that we should be more focused on our work, our family and friends,” Gvardiol tells Footballblogzz in an exclusive interview, via adidas.
“Because the fact is we spend a lot of time on social media, on our phones and computers. It’s sad because when I was younger I couldn’t wait to finish school and get on the playground with my friends. I wouldn’t say that’s the reason I’m successful, it’s one of the reasons. You need to be aware of that, every day you need to try to push yourselves to the limit.”
‘Everything happened so quickly’
Gvardiol has certainly had success. At the age of 22, he has won the Premier League title, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the DFB-Pokal twice. He has played in the final of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of a World Cup.
There is plenty more to look forward to, beginning with the European Championship in Germany next month. But when he was growing up in Zagreb and seeing the mental map each day, Gvardiol was not looking too far ahead, and he encourages young aspiring footballers to do the same.
“When I was 17 or 18 and I realised there was a possibility to be a professional I didn’t think that one day I was going to play for Man City, to compete in a World Cup or Euros. My goal was just to become a player of Dinamo Zagreb and everything happened so quickly. I didn’t have that much time to think about it,” he says.
“At one point I realised ‘OK this is the moment I need to take it seriously’, and that’s what I did. All I want to say is that kids shouldn’t be focused on making it, they should be focused on having fun with friends and kicking the ball. Of course kids have dreams, probably they’re going to look up to me. It’s nice to see that. But they should be more focused on enjoying their time with family and friends. The rest will come sooner or later.”
adidas is continuing its ambition to help disarm negative pressure in sport, with the new campaign motivating football icons with a rallying cry: ‘You Got This’. The campaign is headlined by a film which aims to inspire next-gen athletes to overcome pressure and help fuel their love of the beautiful game.
Sticking together
Young kids in Croatia will not be the only ones looking at Gvardiol this summer. When Croatia play in a major tournament, the whole country stops what they’re doing. And the team never fail to whip up a storm when the world is watching, providing a constant riddle for football fans and pundits.
How can a country which has only been independent since 1991, with a population of less than four million people – half the size of London – be so successful, finishing as World Cup runners-up in 2018 and reaching two global semi-finals?
“We are so small, you can’t compare us with England, France or other countries. I cannot give you the right answer. All I know is we stick together, we support each other, the whole nation gives us a huge support, that’s one of the reasons why we are what we are,” Gvardiol explains.
In awe of Modric
Captain Luka Modric put it best when he said: “Playing for Croatia is sacred for us. It’s an indescribable kind of love.”
Gvardiol’s eyes light up at the mention of Modric, who has been playing for Croatia for 18 years and is still the heartbeat of the team at the age of 38. Euro 2024 will be his ninth international tournament and most likely his last. Although, as Gvardiol is at pains to point out: “You never know with this guy.”
“When I see Luka Modric at that age giving everything for our jersey, for me as the youngest I feel like if he can do that, then I need to do even more than him. He’s definitely one of the reasons for the young generation to push us even more,” he says.
“I appreciate every time we are there together with him. He’s one of the best in the world. We are all so proud of him and what he has done. We need to take the chance while he’s still here with us and learn as much as possible from him.”
Debut to remember
Gvardiol has had to face down pressure throughout his career and find ways to cope with it. He had to use those tools to keep a level head in the Premier League title race, when City were obliged to win their final nine matches to see off Arsenal and claim a historic fourth consecutive league crown.
“It’s the Premier League, the best league in the world, the rhythm is tough, the other teams, the opponents are tough as well. Every game is a new final, especially at the end of the season. There’s no room for mistakes,” he explains.
Playing for Croatia from such a young age prepared Gvardiol for what awaited him at City, as there is no pressure like playing for your country. Especially when that country is Croatia.
There was enormous pressure ahead of his competitive debut against England at Wembley at the last European Championship, when, at the age of 19, he became the youngest player to represent Croatia at a major tournament.
“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,” he recalls.
“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.
“When I step on the pitch all I think about is winning the game. We represent our country, those colours on our jersey mean everything to us and as soon as the game starts we just think about our country, our nation. There is pressure, but when you hear the whistle from the referee, everything changes.”
Settling in at City
There was a different type of pressure for Gvardiol when he signed for City last summer for £78m ($99.5m), making him one of the most expensive defenders of all time. Joining City meant working under Pep Guardiola, a coach who the defender has been reminded of so often due to the similarity of their surnames. His nickname when coming through the Dinamo academy was even ‘Mini Pep’.
But as so many players have found when they start working with the Catalan, Gvardiol needed a bedding-in process. Although he had been a left-back as a youth player, he had spent the last few years mastering the role of a centre-back, gaining global attention for his performances with Croatia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. As soon as he had joined City, however, he was tasked with playing as an inverted full-back on his weaker left side. It was not an easy transition, as he is the first to acknowledge.
“It’s something I’m aware of, it’s a big challenge for me this season, new club, new team-mates, new position, I knew that I’d need some time to adapt because I haven’t played that position for a long time,” Gvardiol admits.
“I said many times I will take this first season as best as possible to adapt, to learn the style the manager wants us to play and to understand my team-mates. I knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be easy, but it’s something I dreamed about, I’m happy to be here. I think from now on it’s going to be easier and easier.”
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Goal machine
But little by little he has thrived in his role, and by the end of the campaign, as the three-horse title race between City, Arsenal and Liverpool heated up and dropping points meant almost certainly losing the crown, Gvardiol showed his true quality.
Guardiola has been highly impressed with how the Croatian has adapted. After the 4-1 win over Aston Villa in April, the coach remarked: “In the past he had a tendency to take a lot of risks with the ball and lose a lot of balls, and now he’s more simple as a player. A defender has to be simple. I don’t ask Josko Gvardiol to score a hat-trick like Phil Foden. He doesn’t have to do that.”
Gvardiol, however, seemed to take those words from his coach as a challenge. Just one week later, at Santiago Bernabeu, he discovered his scoring touch, pinging a shot from outside the area into the far corner of the net to give City a 3-2 lead against Real Madrid. It was an incredible way to get his first goal for City, having not scored in his first eight months. And it was the first of many.
The Croatian struck against Luton four days later, again from outside the area, netted with a header against Nottingham Forest at the end of April and then scored twice in a virtuoso display against Fulham.
“Life is about confidence,” Guardiola glowed afterwards. “It is a question of time. He has come here for many years and he is proving to himself that he can do it and play with us. His focus is football. He wants to be better and better, and when that happens you have something special.”
Masked marauder
Gvardiol demonstrated that he had something special at the last World Cup. His gutsy and gritty displays in Qatar summed up Croatia’s indomitable spirit, which saw them knock out Brazil on their way to reaching the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Argentina.
But as they had done in 1998, Croatia took the third-place play-off deadly seriously, and Gvardiol scored as they beat Morocco 2-1 to take the bronze medal. Even before his goal, the defender had been one of the World Cup’s breakout stars. He showcased his outstanding ability on the ball, the product of playing all over the pitch as a youngster before eventually settling on centre-back.
He was also instantly recognisable for the mask he wore throughout the World Cup after breaking his nose while playing for RB Leipzig ahead of the tournament. He lets us in on a secret: he hated the mask.
“I struggled a lot with that mask, my vision was minimal, the sweat under the mask,” he admits. “At the beginning I was happy, thinking let’s see how it is with the mask. But after a couple of days I wanted to give up. But the staff told me to not do it, to keep playing with the mask.
“I remember it was the day before facing Argentina, in the training session before the game I got angry with that mask and I threw it somewhere. But at the end I finished the World Cup with that mask. It became something I’m going to remember forever.”
Psychological edge
Croatia’s journey to the semi-finals was helped by their incredible knack for winning penalty shootouts. As in the 2018 World Cup, they won consecutive shootouts, beating Japan and then Brazil. Gvardiol believes his side’s record on penalties gives them a psychological edge when extra-time is over.
“It’s just a part of our national team. Now when we get to the penalties I know we will go through for sure,” he says. “I remember in the first game against Japan when we got to the penalties, I was a bit worried because that’s not the way I want to get beaten, especially after a great 120 minutes when we dominated the game. At the end you need a bit of luck and that is what was following us for the whole tournament.”
It was a reversal of roles in the quarters against Brazil, when Croatia rode their luck, falling behind to a stunning goal from Neymar in extra-time before levelling with three minutes left to force spot-kicks, when goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic became the hero.
“We knew that they were a better team, they had a lot of qualities in attack but we didn’t give up. I remember the moment we conceded the goal, I just wanted to disappear,” he recalls. “And we kept fighting, we didn’t want to give up. At the end we scored a goal, we reached the penalties and when you have a good goalkeeper on the line, everything is easier.”
‘We like challenges’
Croatia eventually succumbed to Argentina in the last four, with Gvardiol’s future team-mate Julian Alvarez starring instead. But in Germany, his country will have another chance to defy expectations, and there is an added motivation to give Modric one last moment of glory. Croatia are in the unforgiving Group B alongside Spain, Italy and Albania, but they have never had things easy – and that’s how they like it.
“It’s another opportunity, the last dance for Luka,” Gvardiol says with a smile. “We all know that definitely it’s his last tournament. It’s a new opportunity to win something, hopefully we get to the final. One more push until the end. We are in the worst group, the hardest, the toughest one. But we are Croatia, we like new challenges.”
