Mateo Kovacic of Croatia celebrates against Canada. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
According to BBC Live, former England defender Matthew Upson has highlighted the role of Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic in Croatia’s impressive 4-1 win over Canada in the World Cup.
Although he did not score a goal or assist any, Kovacic was at the heart of everything good the 2018 World Cup runners-up did.
In 86 minutes, the 28-year-old made four key passes, had a pass accuracy rate of 93%, created two big chances, won 70% of the ground duels and made five successful tackles (Sofascore). Opta shared a tweet on how he created history with this performance.
Here’s what Upson said regarding how important Kovacic was in the game (h/t BBC Live):
“I really think that Kovacic was so important in that early stage of the game where they went 1-0 down. He’s the one that’s got the legs and the engine and the running power to deal with it.”
The midfielder did have a stuttering season for Chelsea where niggly injuries did not help his cause. He featured for a total of 1,085 minutes in all competitions for the Blues, which is approximately just over 50% of the total so far.
However, these types of influential performances are nothing new to us. Kovacic has been one of the best midfielders in the league in the last 12 to 18 months.
He is all-action and possesses great quality on the ball to help the team in transitioning from defence to attack. We should be happy that his form is great in the World Cup. It can only be good news when he comes to England on a high and continues to help us win games in the second half of this season.
Kovacic’s contract at Stamford Bridge is expiring in the summer of 2024, 18 months from now (Transfermarkt). A few weeks ago, Daily Mail reported that Chelsa are eager to start new contract talks with the 28-year-old.
With how important he is to us, it is a necessity that the club ties his long-term future in west London.
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