After the celebrations in Buenos Aires, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez returned to Mar del Plata, his hometown, where he received a triumphant welcome.
In front of a huge crowd, the Aston Villa player was questioned about the course of the final and in particular the series of shots on goal which made him a hero since he managed to deflect two tricolor attempts, those of Kingley Coman and Aurélien Tchouameni.
To discover
World Cup 2026: dates, venue and format
World Cup: The complete table of the final phase
All World Cup match results
I knew the boy was going to be nervous.
Emiliano Martinez
He also returned to the failure of the Madrid midfielder and explained how he had mentally destabilized the young 22-year-old player.
The opportunity for Martinez to put a layer on his opponents.
“
At penalties I become strong, and I know that people respect me.
I know it because adversaries have entrusted it to me.
I knew the boy was going to be nervous.
I tried to play it mentally by throwing the ball, talking to him and he shot wide.
He screwed it up.
»
Stopper at Arsenal, specialist in penalties and provocations ... Who is Emiliano Martinez, the Argentinian goalkeeper chambering Mbappé?
Great architect of the Argentine victory in the final (3-3, 4 pens to 2) thanks, in particular to a decisive stoppage at the very end of the match against Randal Kolo Muani, Martinez had multiplied the provocations after the meeting, brandishing the trophy for best guardian of the competition in front of his private parts and in the direction of the World Cup.
In the process, in the locker room, he launched a song "
A minute of silence ... for Mbappé who is dead
".
Then, during the festivities in Buenos Aires, he waved a doll bearing the image of the Paris SG striker in front of the euphoric public.
The crowd came to cheer Emiliano Martinez, national hero of the World Cup final.
MARA SOSTI / AFP
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/M52GR73B3X2YKMRHEEKK6PJ45Y.jpg)
