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Sorry guys, I can only laugh at this stuff now because it's better than crying
Tudor out, Simic maybe missing the first game and althought the below story sounds good, I never even knew about Kovac's Achilles tendon injury.
The original plan was 3 defenders and now there's a possibility that none of them will play in the first game.
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Kovac confident of facing Mexico
Tuesday 28th May 2002
Croatia defender Robert Kovac is hopeful of being fit for the team's opening World Cup clash against Mexico despite having struggled with an Achilles tendon injury over the past few days.
Kovac's inclusion in the Croatia back line has been made all the more necessary in the light of Igor Tudor's absence through injury and his loss would be a major blow to the team.
The Bayern Munich stopper has admitted he is not 100 per cent fit after picking up a slight knock in training but is confident of facing Mexico on June 3.
"It's still hurting but it's getting better," he said. "I am not fully recovered yet but I am receiving treatment every day and I think it will be OK."
He went on to insist that the team would be able to cope despite the absence of Tudor.
"We often think about Igor Tudor but we have Josip Simunic who has been playing well in the Bundesliga and the two of us have a really good understanding.
"We also have Dario Simic who has looked very sharp in training."
He added: "The first game is the most important. We are fully concentrated on Mexico.
"We know they are strong but we have an excellent defence and only two our opponents (Latvia and Scotland) were able to break it during qualifying.
"I am sure that we are a better team than Mexico."
