Joško Gvardiol taken to hospital with broken nose

RB Leipzig defender Joško Gvardiol was taken to hospital with a broken nose on Wednesday night, an injury he picked up during their 3-1 win against Freiburg.

“I heard he has a broken nose,” said head coach Marco Rose. “The eye is swollen. He looks like a boxer after 12 rounds against a tough opponent.”

Gvardiol sustained the injury on the same day that Zlatko Dalić named his Croatia squad for the World Cup. Visibly dazed following the challenge, the defender left the field under his own accord and was treated further with a bloody nose and a wound under the eye. He then went straight to the dressing room and then on to the hospital, where further examinations will take place.

It’s likely that he will miss RB Leipzig’s final Bundesliga game of 2022 but his World Cup participation isn’t thought to be under threat. Gvardiol wasn’t even supposed to be in the starting XI but after Abdou Diallo felt pain in his knee during the warm-up, the Croatian started.

Croatia start their World Cup campaign with a game against Morocco on November 23 before facing Canada (November 27) and Belgium (December 1). 

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

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