“You are like Lionel Messi”. These words were said by Vedran Corluka to his national teammate Mateo Kovacic after Inter’s young midfielder had helped Croatia to qualify to the World Cup in Brazil next summer. Mateo is obviously buzzing after this achievement, which will help Croatia to get their minds off the painful failure to qualify to the last World Cup in South Africa: “I am very happy, we played a great game. We deserved to go to Brazil and play the World Cup. I am also happy with my own performance. Comparisons to Messi? It is always nice when your teammates compare you to a great player, but this is not what I live for. I live for love and for my friends”.
Everyone might not be aware of the fact that Kovacic’s career ran the risk of coming to an early halt when the player was only 15 years old. A very severe bone fracture kept him away from football for a year, and during the first four months after the injury Mateo could not even walk: “But I never began to doubt myself, I have always known that if I want to achieve something I can do it. And eventually I could return to the pitch, thanks to God”.
Source: FcInterNews.it
