Summary: Lille - Aston Villa 1:2/Sport1
French football fans came out scarred from the 2022 World Cup final, in which the French team lost on penalties in one of the biggest finals in the history of the tournament to the Argentine team, when the hero of the show was Emiliano Martinez, the Albiceleste goalkeeper. The provocative goalkeeper defiantly celebrated in front of the French crowd and she is responsible for leading the celebrations at the expense of Kylian Mbappe in moves that drew a lot of criticism towards the goalkeeper of Aston Villa.
Yesterday (Thursday) the Argentinian was booed and almost attacked by the local crowd in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Conference League in which his team defeated Lille on penalties, and again this time he provided two saves in a duel from the penalty spot on the way to the semi-finals, including more defiant celebrations at the expense of the French people.
In the media in France, Martins was called "Enemy No. 1 of the public", while even the nickname "the most hated Argentine in France" apparently did not move too much for the goalkeeper who celebrated on the grass, towards the stands and in the dressing room. In "TYC Sports", the Argentinian team's goalkeeper was praised: "Despite the hostile atmosphere, Dibo has done it again! He is making the French miserable."
During the penalty kicks, Martinez taunted the local crowd and received a second yellow card, but according to the law a goalkeeper cannot be sent off during penalties and continued to stand in goal. After the game he was asked about the incident and answered: "I have a bad image of someone who wastes time and any other goalkeeper would have done exactly what I did. I didn't know what the referee wanted from me. Later in the penalties there was no ball on the white spot, and when I asked the ball boy for a ball, I got a card I just don't understand the rules."
The Argentine then added on his dreams this season and later with Aston Villa: "There is a special group of players and a special coach here. I feel that we are about to do something extraordinary. I don't know if it will be to qualify for the Champions League, I don't know if it will win the Conference League, but We will try to do everything for this club."