Josko Gvardiol - Croatia's young bodyguard

* Croatia - Brazil: 10pm today, 9/12, on MetaSports.

In the summer of 2022, Chelsea sent RB Leipzig a $90 million offer to buy Gvardiol. If the Bundesliga club accepts the offer, the Croatian player will become the most expensive U20 defender in the world. But that much money is not attractive enough for Leipzig. They locked Gvardiol under contract until 2027, and then announced through the British media that this talent is worth no less than 120 million USD. At that time, Gvardiol was not famous outside the Bundesliga as well as his homeland of Croatia.

Gvardiol was born on January 23, 2002 in the capital Zagreb, but was originally from Novigrad, where Tihomir's father used to play amateur football. In 2019, this midfielder was in the top 60 outstanding young talents voted by the Guardian (UK), besides some names who also appeared at the 2022 World Cup this time such as Ansu Fati, Pedri (Spain), Jeremy Doku (Belgium) or Eduardo Camavinga (France). Two years later, Gvardiol surpassed senior Mateo Kovacic, taking the record for the youngest player to play for Croatia in a major tournament, when he attended Euro 2021 at the age of 19 years and 4 months and 21 days.

Many foreign teams have sent scouts to observe Gvardiol since 2018, when he was playing at Dinamo Zagreb - one of the six best youth training centers in Europe. But after assessing his ability to integrate into the environment and the opportunity to play regularly, the Croatian defender chose RB Leipzig. The German team then spent 17 million USD to own Gvardiol as a "save", because he still left him with Dinamo Zagreb for another season on loan.

In the summer of 2021, Gvardiol officially joined RB Leipzig and immediately, the 19-year-old player won the starting position, playing 46 matches for the Red Bull Arena team last season. This season, he has consolidated his central role in the team's development of the ball from home. No player has averaged more passes (84.23) and completed passes (75.04) in 90 minutes than Gvardiol in the Bundesliga. He also touches the ball an average of 95.07 times per 90 minutes, second only to two Bayern players - Joshua Kimmich and Benjamin Pavard.

But in the midst of his sublime performance, Gvardiol suffered multiple facial injuries in the match RB Leipzig beat Freiburg 3-1 in the Bundesliga on November 10 and thought he would not be able to attend the World Cup. Coach Marco Rose described Gvardiol's image at that time: "His eyes were swollen, he looked like a boxer after 12 rounds with a tough opponent." However, the 20-year-old midfielder still went to Qatar and played with a protective mask like Korean superstar Son Heung-min. Coach Zlatko Dalic still believes in his students, leaving veteran midfielder Domagoj Vida - who has more than 100 matches for Croatia - on the bench.

Regardless of Dalic's trust, Gvardiol played brilliantly. He played all four matches, making an important contribution to bringing Croatia to the quarterfinals. Gvardiol is in the top 10 defenders with the most successful tackles in defense (20), saves (25) and interceptions (7). The ability to pass the ball is considered a natural talent of this Croatian player is also shown with 281 passes with 72% directed to the front, and is in the top 5 most accurate passing central defenders (88.4%). What he can do in a team that is not as strong in ball control as Croatia is even more impressive.

Besides the dry numbers, Gvardiol is also likened by the Croatian online community to the image of a "gladiator", like the way he defended resiliently against Belgium, preventing Romelu Lukaku from scoring in injury time or "" pocket" the Japanese strikers each face-to-face. And when taking off that warrior mask, fans see an emotional and emotional player. After the 0-0 draw with Belgium in the final round of the group stage - the result that brought Croatia to the 1/8 round, Gvardiol ran to the opposite field, hugged his mother and cried.

Dalic recently declared Gvardiol the best defender in the world. "If not now, then he will also become number one in the near future. His way of playing shows the leisure when holding the ball," commented the Croatia coach.

Witnessing the 20-year-old midfielder perform, the world press called him "Croatian pearl". He is even called "Little Pep", because the name sounds like the famous coach Pep Guardiola. T-Portal (Croatia) has reached out to linguist Domagoj Vidovic - who has studied Croatian names, surnames and synonyms for nearly 20 years. Vidovic said the Gvardiol family originated in Novigrad and is related to the Old Roman verb "guardare" - meaning to protect, and is also related to the famous Guardiola surname in Catalonia, Spain.

"What's interesting is that Guardiola also means protection," said Vidovic. "A word very related to defenders like Gvardiol. He can't be surpassed and excels at manning." And in fact, Gvardiol's way of playing is also close to the modern central defender that Guardiola prefers - not only strong in blocking opponents but also knowing how to build play and develop the attacking ball.

Former Man Utd and England defender Rio Ferdinand admired Gvardiol more than any defender who played at the 2022 World Cup. "A great introduction. He is very strong, left-footed and looked happy in the match war," Ferdinand told the BBC. Meanwhile, Croatia teammate Borna Barisic expressed jealousy: "God gives Gvardiol everything. He plays as if he has played 100 matches for the national team, without any pressure, like playing with friends." .

In response to those compliments, Gvardiol considers himself lucky to be playing behind the trio of Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic. "You don't have to think much when in front of those three outstanding midfielders. Playing with them, half the problem is solved," he said.

From the club level, the performance in the World Cup further strengthens Gvardiol's value in the face of the appetite of the big boys. According to British and Spanish media, Real Madrid is considering jumping into the competition to buy this midfielder with Chelsea with an offer of up to $ 95 million.

But according to Gvardiol's agent, he does not let the noise from the transfer floor distract him, because his number one priority right now is the World Cup, where Croatia will face Brazil in the quarterfinals today. This is the hardest test ever that Gvardiol has to face with Croatia. On the other side of the front line, the Brazilian attack is in high form with top technical threats such as Vinicius Jr, Neymar, Richarlison ready to test Gvardiol's hardness.

Croatia will devote themselves to nurturing the dreams of experienced "olds" like Modric, Perisic, Lovren, and Gvardiol is the complement to the physical and youthful side. With that foundation, the defending World Cup runner-up has more confidence in solving the match in extra time or penalty shootouts, as they have done in the last seven out of eight matches in the knockout round of the Euro and the World Cup.