Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has praised Mateo Kovacic for showing “great courage” by playing through a painful shoulder injury in his country’s Round of 16 victory over Denmark.
Kovacic was introduced from the bench in the 71st minute in Nizhny Novgorod, replacing Marcelo Brozovic.
But not long into his cameo appearance, the Real Madrid midfielder sustained a serious-looking shoulder injury after falling heavily on his right arm.
Kovacic looked to be in serious pain, and at first, it appeared he had dislocated his shoulder – there were claims on social media that the Croatian national team doctor had confirmed a dislocation.
Croatian NT doctor confirmed that Mateo Kovačić played last night’s match with a dislocated shoulder, even refused to come off despite risking a serious damage.
Warrior
pic.twitter.com/LdopBwzYxD
— Ryan. (@Rygista) July 2, 2018
Despite the pain, Kovacic played on, something his manager was keen to praise the 24-year-old for after Croatia emerged from the tie on penalties.
“His shoulder hurts very much and all the credit to him because he played with a really tough injury,” said Dalic, according to ESPN. “He showed great courage.”
It's not as bad as it looks like
#Itsallgood
pic.twitter.com/b74dmm4wDi
— Mateo Kovačić (@Mateo_Kova23) July 2, 2018
ESPN claims Kovacic has since undergone an MRI scan, and Croatia are still awaiting the results to see if he can play in the quarter-final against Russia on Saturday.
Kovacic has revealed his desire to leave Real Madrid this summer in search of first-team opportunities elsewhere.
He has played 45 times for his country, scoring just one goal.
The post How Mateo Kovacic took playing through the pain to a new level in Croatia v Denmark appeared first on Squawka News.
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