MAKING OF A SUPERSTAR

From humble beginnings to playing for the best club side on the planet, Josko Gvardiol was always destined for the top

- Juraj Vrdoljak

Ahead of the Croatia v Morocco third place play-off game at last year’s World Cup, most of the people in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, were – as elsewhere in the country – glued to their TV screens. However, at the biggest open market in the heart of the city one shop was open as if it was just another regular day.

Tihomir Gvardiol came to his small shop as he did for the past 41 years; hailing from a small coastal town of Novigrad, he eventually settled down up north, plying his fish-selling trade. But the World Cup brought different clientele than the usual one, as Tihomir was now facing a long line of journalists, eager to find out why he isn’t in Qatar himself. It isn’t as if his son, Josko, wasn’t playing on the world’s biggest stage, ready to vie for a World Cup medal and soon to be named in almost everyone’s team of the tournament. And all this aged just 20 at the time with a transfer value already approaching a record-breaking figure to any potential suitor – a sum much larger than the price of fish at his dad’s place.

“Ah, I don’t know, that’s all way too much for me”, said the proud, but also humble dad. He did add that he thought about making the distant trip, but “there weren’t any flights available”. “I still look at him as my child, first and foremost. Those sums in football are, in general, beyond me. Not so long ago he’d be here, taking that number 12 tram from his school to give me a hand and keep me company.”