After agreeing to move to Man City and becoming a student of Pep Guardiola, center-back Josko Gvardiol is making impressive strides in his career. Not only has he perfected his defensive skills, the 22-year-old player has also honed his diverse finishing ability.
For example, in the 1-1 draw with Portugal (18.11), Gvardiol was the only goal scorer for Croatia. In the 65th minute, from Kristijan Jakic's cross, the defender had a smart sneak down to finish close to the goal to equalize the score.
Before that, Gvardiol also made a run like a striker, before heading the ball diagonally past goalkeeper Jose Sa. However, the referee did not recognize the goal because of an offside.
Gvardiol's ability to score goals is not too unfamiliar to fans. Just in the Man City shirt, the 22-year-old center-back has had 8 goals for himself since moving in the summer of 2023.
The Croatian defender's most impressive goal was an incredible curler against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals last season.
Since moving to Etihad, Pep Guardiola has deployed Gvardiol as a left-back. Although it is not his natural position, the player has always tried his best, trained constantly and the result has been brilliant performances.
From a "rock" praised by experts at the 2022 World Cup, Gvardiol has made great strides by contributing more in attack. He still has many opportunities to prove himself as one of the best defenders in the world.
A 1-1 draw saw Portugal and Croatia advance to the Nations League quarter-finals. In addition to the two teams mentioned above, the teams in the last 8 include Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark.
