It is time for Mateo Kovacic. The injury to Alvarez, which will probably keep him out of Sunday’s game against Torino, seems to mean an opportunity in the starting formation for the young Croatian. These are Tuttosport’s predictions of the game: ”Mateo will try to make maximal use of his quickness and his ability to change pace when he finally gets the chance to play a more attacking role. This could be a great opportunity to score his first goal in the black and blue shirt, and really become Inter’s version of Marek Hamsik”.

Mateo Kovacic opens up and speaks about himself and Inter. This is a long interview from Croatia’s national team camp, where Inter’s talented midfielder discusses dreams for the future and plans for his player career. Wearing the number ten shirt doesn’t seem to faze him, Mazzarri is developing him with great care: the conditions are optimal for Mateo to become a new big favourite among the Inter supporters.

You have been at Inter for almost a year, how is everything going?
“I needed some time to adapt, but thanks to God my coach and my team mates accepted me from day one. Now it is all up to me, if I work hard then everything will turn out well”.

How did it feel to enter the pitch with the Inter shirt for the first time?
“It was a beautiful feeling, but to be honest it didn’t feel extremely different. For me, a football pitch is a football pitch, regardless of where you play you need to give a hundred percent. It felt a bit special since it was the first time, but now it’s all normal”.

Now you play with some of the best players in the world, players that you once could see only on TV..
“Yes, that is very true, I used to watch them and imagine myself as one of them. Now I am in the spotlight next to these players”.

Which players do you talk to the most? 
“Above all I talk to Handanovic and Kuzmanovic, who are both from the same part of the world as me. But I talk to the others aswell: Brazilians, Italians, nowadays I can communicate with everyone”.

Is there any player who has impressed you?
“Absolutely. One of them is captain Zanetti, who runs like a young boy. Then there is Modric who, even though he plays for a great team like Real Madrid, always has remained the same person with his feet on the ground”.

When you’re as famous as you are, there must be a lot of people trying to make friends with you. Is it easy to find real friends?
“I believe that it is never easy to find a true friend, regardless of whether you are a football player or not. What I am trying to say is that us footballers are not that different from other people, after all we have a life just like everyone else. We keep in touch with the persons we have known since we were kids, but we meet a lot of new people every day”.

How do you imagine your situation in 10 years? Will you be at the peak of your career?
“I don’t know, and frankly I do not plan that far ahead. My move to Inter came very suddenly, I am 19 years old and when I signed for Inter I was still only 18. I wasn’t prepared for this, and I don’t think Dinamo was either. Everything happened without warning, and because of this I do not plan my career several years in advance. What I do hope is that I become a great player and that I am able to prove it. I also want my own family one day, because football isn’t everything. Football is important, but it is not the most important thing in life: there is also the family and everything that comes with it”.

Everyone keeps saying that you are very mature for a 19-year-old…
“I have always been the same. My parents raised me to live independently and I thank them for that. They have always believed in me, they even let me live on my own in Croatia, so that I could get used to it. They returned to Austria with my two younger sisters, where even I could have lived more comfortably”.

You pick up your phone after a game, the adrenaline is still pumping. Which text messages excite you the most?
“The truth is that I do not check my phone very often. Usually, I call my friends and my parents about two hours after the game. I can tell you that we usually don’t talk about football, I prefer to analyse the games by myself or with my coach, as it is his job. In addition, I hate when people who do not understand football try to get involved”.

Source: Fcinternews.it