Alistair Johnston has hardly been short of plaudits since joining Celtic last January, and now he's been named in the CONMEBOL Copa America Team of the Tournament alongside Lionel Messi and other world class talent.
Having gone all the way to the competition's semi-finals, ultimately losing 2-0 to Messi's Argentina, Johnston impressed throughout the tournament – so much so that he's now earned a place in the tournament's best starting XI, rubbing shoulders with Leandro Martínez, James Rodriguez, and Manchester United key target (and current PSG midfielder) Manuel Ugarte.
Here's the Copa America Team of the Tournament from back to front:
El equipo de la CONMEBOL Copa America™️ 2024, elegido por el Grupo de Estudio Táctico (GET). @pumafootball junto al equipo del torneo 🌟 pic.twitter.com/r7kXBuHXgG
— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ (@CopaAmerica) July 31, 2024
Due to his Copa America commitments, Johnston did not link up with his teammates on their recent tour of America, but is back training with Brendan Rodgers and his players at Lennoxtown ahead of their first Scottish Premiership fixture this weekend.
In an interview earlier today, Johnston hailed his new colleague, veteran goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
He said: "Replacing Joe not only on the pitch but off it is really difficult. I think the manager did a great job with Kasper. He is a man with a ton of experience just like Joe. He is a big presence in the locker room. He still has plenty of quality and we saw that throughout pre-season.
"We have all been happily surprised with the level that he still has. I think he is going to prove a lot of people wrong just the same as Joe did when he came up here. A lot of people wrote him off and not because they doubted his quality just because he had been out of the limelight a little bit.
"He's been playing in France and Belgium for the past two years so he was kind of out of sight and out of mind. Now he's going to remind everybody of how much of a quality goalkeeper he is.
"We have seen how good he is with his feet and some of the saves he made even just in my first two days at training have been unbelievable. I'm excited to build that relationship and trust with him as it is so important that you have a goalkeeper that instils confidence in the backline."
