Adrian is used to facing the brilliance of Lionel Messi from trying to keep the Barcelona forward at bay when facing him for Real Betis.
So he was glad to be able to watch from the opposite end of the pitch when Dimitri Payet when on a mazy run of his own to notch the Hammers’ equaliser against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The West Ham United goalkeeper was full of praise for Payet’s impact as yet again he lit up the Hammers stage with a piece of exquisite skill.
“We’ve known Dimi for a long time and he trains like he plays,” the No13 said. “He’s a magnificent player and it was a like a Leo Messi goal for Barcelona, dribbling past everybody and making a fantastic finish.
“It’s a massive goal for us to get a good point, but we have to keep fighting now.
“It was a game we could have won and could have lost. They got one goal, we had a great chance in the first half and didn’t score.
“In the second half Dimi scored a magnificent goal for us, but I think we showed character on the pitch. We needed to show that and give our best on the pitch – this is the way to win more points.”
“We wanted to win the three points on Saturday, but the most important thing is that we showed a different character.
“We helped each other along the 90 minutes. At the end of the day it’s a draw and one more point, but we have to [continue to] change in this way.”