British media Sports Bible reported on the 3rd (Korea Standard Time) that “Messi chose the best goalkeeper that Jisin saw.”
Sports Bible described Messi as “not human,” citing the best goalkeeper he saw at the time in 2015. Most of the goalkeepers who faced Messi failed to stop him, and when he was in Barcelona in 2020, Messi even sent beer to 144 goalkeepers who lost points to him,” he said.
“Fraser Foster is one of the players who lost a goal to Messi in the match between Celtic and Barcelona at Celtic Park in Scotland in 2012. However, Foster made a big impression on Messi with his heroic performance even in the run,” he mentioned Foster’
Foster is a veteran goalkeeper who has played 133 games in the Premier League since moving to Southampton in 2014. Before moving to Southampton, he played for Celtic FC and also played in European matches. He was also selected for the England national team and played in six matches.
Foster, who joined Tottenham in free agency in 2022, played as the main goalkeeper and played in 21 games for Tottenham after Hugo Lloris, who was the main goalkeeper last season, was absent for a long time due to a knee ligament injury. However, ahead of this season, Tottenham filled the main goalkeeper position by recruiting Guglielmo Vicario instead of using a poster even though Lloris is likely to leave the team.
Messi reportedly said, “The game Foster played against us has been talked about for a long time. There was a game in Scotland where he was not human, and that was the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen,” he said, praising Foster’s performance.
“When Victor Valdez said he was leaving the team, we also talked about Foster playing for Barcelona. I was sure he would end his career at Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United,” he said, noting that he thought Foster would move to a big club.
In the match between Barcelona and Celtic in November 2012, which Messi talked about, Foster made as many as seven decisive saves in the match. At that time, Messi’s Barcelona lost just twice in 2012 in games that Messi scored, one of which was the away match for Celtic mentioned by Messi. Foster was the first contributor to his team’s 1-2 victory, not allowing additional goals despite allowing one goal to Messi.
Meanwhile, contrary to Messi’s expectations, Foster headed to Southampton in recognition of his performance at Celtic, but he rarely received offers from big clubs and joined Celtic on loan in the 2019/20 season. It is currently in Tottenham’s second option position. It was a poster that even had the nickname “The Wall of Glasgow” during Celtic’s time, but it seems that it was difficult to head to the big club.