He became the golden hero of Argentina in the final penalty shootout of the World Cup against France.
However, Emiliano Martinez, 30, has grabbed other forms of headlines with outrageous celebrations and unsportsmanlike behaviour.
This is after a long journey, as a goalkeeper and as a person, to the pinnacle of his football career.
He won penalties twice on the way to FIFA World Cup gold and displayed a decisive leg straight into the dying seconds of the last extra time.
It came as no surprise that Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was awarded the Golden Glove, FIFA’s award for the best goalkeeper in the tournament.
It was even more surprising, however, when Martinez accepted the trophy, placed it on his lapel, and made an obscene gesture toward the stands that might not quite fit into the category of what’s appropriate to do at an awards ceremony.
– I did it because the French booed me. “I can’t relate to their arrogance,” Depo, as he is known in his home country, explained after the match.
If you know what Emiliano Martinez is like, and follow him in the Argentine national team during this and previous tournaments, you can not be surprised at the madness and “cheating” of the 30-year-old goalkeeper.
After all, Martinez is the goalkeeper who celebrated the quarter-final victory against the Netherlands by shouting obscenities at Louis van Gaal, captain of the opposing national team. Who celebrates penalty shootout saves in a World Cup final by dancing provocatively in front of his opponents. They both managed to kick the ball wide and concede a penalty kick during the dramatic decision against France. He is either hated for his complete lack of respect for opponents and sportsmanship, or loved for his constant pursuit of perfection in the dark arts and deception. It’s the title of a “bad” winner, but it’s also specifically a winner.
However, he undoubtedly had to fight to become one. Even undergoing a personality change along the way.
Constantly on loan
Emiliano Martinez was just a shy teenager when he made his choice and left Argentina to try his luck at Arsenal, initially filling a place in the club’s reserve team.
Loans, loans, and more loans followed.
Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Wolverhampton, Getafe and Reading. In that order. His desire and aim to secure a place at Arsenal, in his scant first contract at the club, was a fairly constant move to every imaginable place in the English kingdom (as well as a suburb of Madrid) that was in need of a caretaker goalkeeper on a small note. He’s certainly had a handful of first-team appearances at Arsenal too in between all his loan moves, though not on a permanent basis.
It took an injury to Bernd Leno, during the pandemic football summer of 2020, for him to get the chance seriously – and take it.
Martínez got his big break that summer, culminating in an FA Cup Final victory where he gained confidence (although former goalkeeper Bernd Leno was again available at the time).
I only cried for the first five to ten minutes. hard to explain. You’ve come a very long way. My family has supported me all the way. My wife and son now have family in Europe. I do it for them. I’ve never done that myself,” Martinez told Talksport when describing the feelings after the FA Cup final.
It will turn out to be a far cry from the last tears of joy that Debu will shed in the years to come.
Arsenal didn’t deserve me.
However, there was no continuation at Arsenal. In the transfer window after the FA Cup Final, Aston Villa bought the goalkeeper for almost SEK 200 million.
A move that Martinez himself, to the annoyance of Arsenal fans, described as “a step in his career”.
– I love Arsenal and follow their games but I never felt any confidence in them. They kept buying goalkeepers to replace me even though I was the goalkeeper from their academy. Even when I was at my best, I felt they didn’t deserve me because of the way they treated me, the goalkeeper told Sky Sports last year, six months after moving to Birmingham.
And he certainly impressed, as he got playing time and grew up at Aston Villa. But thanks to his efforts in the Argentine national team, where he made his debut in 2021, he has become popular.
Not only for his skills as a goalkeeper, but also for his winning skull, emotional expressions, and complete lack of respect.
Something he actively worked on at Aston Villa with then goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler.
– We worked on his body language and the way he behaved in matches. We’ve worked his confidence to a level bordering on arrogance. So that everyone can see his passion and will. Because he was always that way as a person, even though he never wanted to show it, says Cutler, who was also in regular contact with his old mentor during WC, in an interview with The Telegraph.
Arguably, Cutler was most effective in creating a monster.
“I will open your mouth”
When Argentina took home the Copa America in the summer of 2021, Emiliano Martinez was the most involved. Above all, with his actions in the incredibly violent penalty shootout in the semi-final against Colombia, where ‘Dipo’ made enemies of everything and everyone who had any connection to Colombia, perhaps above all Yerry Mina.
– Are you nervous? You laugh, but you are nervous. Martinez told Mina I will open your mouth because the Everton defender is about to take the penalty.
He was booed, Martinez went the right way, saved him, and celebrated the same way he celebrated the Golden Gloves Cup in Qatar 1.5 years later.
In Qatar, where he continued his career, strewn with provocative dances and dirty tricks and constantly pestering his opponents – both in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and in the final match against France.
– We’ve talked a lot about penalty kicks and gone into detail about every feint that can make an opponent lose focus. Amy, specifically, is very good at getting into people’s heads. His will to please his target is the strongest I have ever known. He does everything to keep a clean sheet or prevent someone from scoring a penalty. His willpower is formidable, Cutler says, and his passion is South America.
He would do anything to get under someone’s skin or to gain the upper hand, because he couldn’t care less about criticism. He doesn’t care who he’s facing. He doesn’t care how they feel and he doesn’t care if people call him unsportsmanlike. He does whatever is necessary and you always think in advance that he will provide.
Releases emotions
However, the provocative dances, including the one he pulled towards fellow Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert in the quarter-finals, are not just about pissing his opponent off.
According to former Villa goalkeeper coach Cutler, the dances are also about self-preservation for the Argentine goalkeeper.
– I haven’t seen him start dancing at the training facility, but you can see in his eyes that he’s about de-stressing. He had reached the point of arrogance where he was just bubbling. He’s constantly working to lie on those boundaries. His will is so strong that he must somehow release all feelings.
At this World Cup, all the smug arrogance culminated in the 30-year-old goalkeeper, with the Argentine flag stenciled in his hairdo, using a prestigious award as a phallic symbol in front of the entire world – after creating enemies for everyone who stood in his way there.
But above all, it’s crowned with WC gold that no one can take away.