Veteran Croatian coach Ilija Loncarevic recently claimed it would be too much of a risk to start teenage Tottenham centre-back Luka Vuskovic against England at the World Cup
Tottenham youngster Luka Vuskovic will be “ready to wrestle” with Harry Kane on his World Cup debut.
That’s according to Croatian journalist Tomislav Gabelic of Sata2024, who expects the talented 19-year-old to start against England at the AT&T Stadium on Wednesday.
He told football.london : “I remember when Josko Gvardiol played during COVID at the European Championships against England, he made mistakes, we were all angry with him and judging Zlatko Dalic.
“Then in the game against Spain, he drank water at the side of the pitch when Spain launched a counter-attack and scored. It was a disaster.
“If the national team coach sees potential in this kind of guy, he’s worth the risk.
“I don’t think Vuskovic is too much of a risk though because of his ability, his strengths are high balls, he’s strong and he can wrestle with Harry Kane and guys like this. He can defend corners and score too, all of that.”
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Vuskovic, who scored six times while on loan at Hamburg last term, already has experience up against Kane. Both were on target in January when Hamburg held Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw.
Brighton recently saw a £30million approach rebuffed for Vuskovic, whose agents have also fielded enquiries from Barcelona in the past few months.
For Gabelic, it’s no surprise to see the Croatia international on the cusp of his World Cup debut at such a young age.
He continued: “I’ve been following Luka Vuskovic pretty much since he was born.
“I’m from Split and he started to play for Hajduk and was the fourth generation of player at the club.
“His grandfather, father and brother Mario so he was destined to be a great player.
“When he was 14 he was given the chance to make a speech in the opening of the new structured Hajduk academy.
He started to play with the first-team at 16, he made the greatest transfer in the club’s history so he’s making big steps in his career but he stays humble.
He’s a good guy, I remember maybe six months ago I had an opportunity to interview him
“We exchanged messages about when he was going to call me, he surprised me as I had a video call on my phone and he said ‘I’d like you to see my face, it will be a better interview.'”
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