Yahoo Sports Manchester City's Mateo Kovačić Shares a Photo Diary From U.S. Preseason Tour
If you're watching the Paris Olympics and looking for even more live sports, Premier League soccer club Manchester City is currently in the United States on a preseason tour.
"It's always nice to be here to train and to play against the big clubs," says City midfielder Mateo Kovačić. American crowds, he says, are similar to the crowds he plays in front of in Manchester. "All the crowds, they love to see City play and love to watch good football, so end in the end, it's the same—people are passionate, it's nice to see them out."
The team's U.S. matches began against Scottish Premier League champions Celtic on July 23 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, and continued against AC Milan on July 27 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. They have two games left: against Barcelona, tonight, at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, and against Chelsea at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Kovačić, in particular, is looking forward to facing his former team ,Chelsea.
Here, Kovačić shares a photo diary from the start of Manchester City's preseason tour in the U.S.:
Kovačić gets a Yankee jersey ahead of the game. "It's nice to be at great stadium and to have the opportunity to be there," he says. "It was a great match against, against the historical team. So really, really nice experience."
He's not a baseball fan, he says. "I'm in love with football—with soccer, how you call it here—it's a sport I follow all day, all night."
Christian Pulisic of AC Milan and Kovačić chat before the Yankee Stadium game.
A selfie in America! It's been a busy summer for Kovačić—he played with Croatia in the Euros—but he tries to spend as much time as he can with his family.
"We are here for having good training sessions to preparing ourselves for what's coming into the season," he says. "I'm looking more forward to be ready for each training and each game than the rest around it. In the end, it's preseason for us, it's about work and getting the fitness on a good level."
Kovačić made his debut with City just over a year ago. "Everything goes so quick!" he says. "It's incredible. The highlight was winning the Premier League—for the club to win four in a row, it's something special and unique and it's really a great thing to be part of it."
Kovačić speaking with media in Orlando ahead of the match against Barcelona, which is part of the DIRECTV Soccer Champions Tour in partnership with FC Series.
"When you achieve [the win], it's really a special feeling" he says of winning the Premier League. "When you look back, you fight for a lot during the season and then to win it...This is really a big, big joy."
"I don't like to look too much ahead or in the future for now," he explains. "It's really to just get going, physically and mentally, for what's coming, because it will be a long, long season." He's pictured here training with his teammates.
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