It is Croatia v England on Sunday in the opening game for both sides in the UEFA European Championship with both labelled as contenders for the month-long tournament which kicked off on Friday.
Sunday’s matchup would see Croatian midfield maestro Mateo Kovacic taking on his fellow Blue Mason Mount who is backed to be a star presence in the England setup under Gareth Southgate’s charge.
Kovacic and Mount had been integral to Chelsea’s heroics this past season which culminated in Champions League winning glory for Thomas Tuchel’s men besides a narrowly obtained top-four finish in league football.
Reports from Metro state Kovacic’s praise for his upcoming opponents with the former Real Madrid man passing on plaudits for England’s midfield which boasts of the likes of Mount, Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson and West Ham United’s Declan Rice who is a key target for Chelsea in the summer.
Kovacic admits coming up against these players will make his task difficult as the Croatian ace added special praise for his club teammate Mount who is in splendid form heading into the Euros with The Three Lions.
“I see the midfield as the main topic here. England are very good in terms of attacking, as are we, so it’s two pretty big teams and it’s gonna be a tough team in terms of the midfield.
“They have an excellent midfield. [Mason] Mount is in excellent form. [Declan] Rice as well in West Ham, and [Jordan] Henderson. They have a lot of quality there but so have we – we have excellence there.
“So it’s going to be a tough match, a lot of fights in the midfield, but we’re ready for that. We all know what kind of match we have ahead of us.
“We’re preparing and we are for every match and we’re going to do our best and give our all.”
