Luis de la Fuente announced the final Spanish national team list last week, and there was a lot of reaction to the omission of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
The 24-year-old shone for Espanyol last season and has continued in the same form since joining Hansi Flick's side in the summer.
Many were surprised that Garcia was not included, as De la Fuente – who justified his decision – decided to continue with the usual trio of Unai Simon, David Raya and Alex Remiro. Now, Simon has reacted to the situation.
Speaking to Radio Marca (via MD), Simon spoke in superlatives about Garcia, highlighting his latest performance against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
"It's normal to talk and appreciate how great a goalkeeper Joan is. He was the one who gave the most to his team, in this case Espanyol, and with Barcelona he has also started very well. He is having a very good season, as we saw in Vallecas against Rayo."
He even said that Garcia was the best goalkeeper in La Liga last season, but stressed that the trio selected by De la Fuente fully deserves their place in the team.
"Courtois for me continues to be the best goalkeeper in the world, but Joan was the best goalkeeper in La Liga last season. That doesn't mean the rest of us feel like we're not worth it, we also have our weight here."
"We have to appreciate what the three goalkeepers who are here have achieved. I appreciate myself... I am the goalkeeper of Athletic, two years ago we won the Zamora award, last season we conceded very few goals and we won the European Championship."
Simon is expected to start against Bulgaria and Turkey in Spain's first qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, with the first match taking place on Thursday.
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