WC hero Emiliano Martínez was one of the most talked about players at the World Cup in Qatar. The goalkeeper became the hero in two penalty shootouts of world champions Argentina. He revealed a secret. The Aston villa employee also made several heroic saves for his national team throughout the tournament leading into the finals.
Martínez reveals secret of Argentina’s penalty kick in World Cup final
In the final against France, which had to be decided from the spot after a thriller, Martínez grew into the big man. Unlike colleague Hugo Lloris, who missed everything, the Argentinian was able to save. Initially he conceded for the 3rd time against Kylian Mbappé, but after Lionel Messi had also hit on behalf of the South Americans, it was Kingsley Coman’s turn.
Martínez went into the right corner and stopped Coman’s bet. A show followed, but what nobody knew is that the goalkeeper had already made a plan for the next penalty kick. When Paulo Dybala had to take the shot, it had already been determined where the ball would end up. The attacker shot through the middle. A tip from the goalkeeper.
“I’ve said to all my teammates: as soon as I take the first penalty, the next one of us has to go straight down the middle,” he told Arsenal legend Ian Wright in a podcast. Dybala successfully followed the advice. Martínez thinks the reasoning makes perfect sense. He said, “That stems from the psychology classes I’ve taken for years.”
The current goalkeeper of Aston Villa, handsome fifth in the Premier League, has a very fine theory for it. He concluded, “Because you save the first penalty kick, the pressure is fully on the other keeper. So he goes diving anyway. Goalkeepers don’t want to look stupid in a World Cup final. But that is if you stay in the middle and the ball still goes into the corner.”
In the end, Aurélien Tchouaméni also shot wide. The Argentinians remained clear, winning the world title. This led to crazy scenes in his own country, in which Martínez himself also claimed a leading role.
