Each of this season’s international breaks have seen numerous Manchester City players feature for their countries.
Now that the final break of 2024 has arrived, several figures from City’s squad have been in action over the past couple of days.
For instance, the English media assessed Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis for their performances in England’s 3-0 win over Greece.
At the same time, Ederson and Savinho were discussed in the Brazilian media for their efforts in Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Venezuela.
Friday night saw Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic start and complete the full 90 minutes in Croatia’s 1-0 defeat to Scotland in the Nations League.
This then led to the Croatian media sharing their thoughts on how the City duo performed in this particular game, which ended in disappointment for the Balkan side.
Croatian media drop double verdict on Man City duo after Scotland defeat
After the defeat to Steve Clarke’s side, Croatian media outlet, Sportske Jutarnji, gave these assessments of the individual performances of Gvardiol and Kovacic in their player ratings article.
Josko Gvardiol – 5.5/10
“The whiny [Ben] Doak created a lot of problems for him, he couldn’t block him.”
Mateo Kovacic – 6.5/10
“Until the end very good, defensively solid, quickly arranges the “exit.”
A disappointing night for Gvardiol and Kovacic
Croatia had to get through the second half with 10 men after Petar Sucic was sent off in the 43rd minute.
With the score still at 0-0 in the final few minutes of the match, an 86th-minute winner from John McGinn sealed the win for Scotland to give the City duo and their Croatia teammates a disappointing defeat.
For Gvardiol, he was kept busy throughout the match from a defensive point of view. Specifically, he made two tackles, two clearances and one interception.
He also gave possession away 13 times in total, won just four of the eight duels he was involved in and got dribbled past on one occasion.
This shows why this particular Croatian media outlet were not too impressed with the defender on this occasion.
Then with Kovacic, he didn’t seem to have much of an impact in front of either goal, as he only made one key pass and had just one shot at goal which was off-target.
He also made just one tackle and one interception for his side.
