WC winner Emi Martínez is not very concerned about reports that FIFA wants to tighten the rules for goalkeepers during penalty shoot-outs. The Argentinian goalkeeper says he is fine with it: after all, he has already had his finest moment.
Martínez played a leading role in Argentina’s December World Cup win, making crucial saves in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands (quarter-final) and France (final). The goalkeeper did everything he could in this series to get the opponents out of concentration. “During the penalties he used every trick in the book,” French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris recently said about Martínez.
During the Copa América win a year earlier, Martínez already opted for the same tactic during penalties. It is claimed that FIFA wants to act against this and with new rules to ensure that goalkeepers can no longer distract penalty takers with their behavior in the future. Martínez was confronted with this in conversation with the Argentine branch of ESPN.
The keeper responded with a smile. “After winning the Copa America I kept saying I didn’t know if I would do it again,” said Martínez. “And now, after winning the World Cup, I say that again. I’ve already taken the penalties I was supposed to take. I may never take another penalty in the next 20 years, but that’s okay. I had to be there during the Copa and the World Cup and I managed to save penalties. That’s enough for me.”
Martínez does not get nervous about a possible rule change. “We will always adapt to the modern rules and what FIFA wants. That won’t be a problem,” he said.
Cody Gakpo receives praise from former manager
Sticking with the Premier League, Ruud van Nistelrooyj sees that Cody Gakpo has quickly found his feet at Liverpool. The PSV coach believes that his former pupil also played a good match against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Like all neutral football fans, Van Nistelrooyj has enjoyed the Champions League clash at Anfield. “And I thought Cody was strong,” the PSV manager said at his press conference on Wednesday. “Like Liverpool in the first 20 minutes. They were blowing away Real Madrid and Cody was strong.”
“He had some great ball-holding moments,” Van Nistelrooyj continued his analysis. “That he plays the ball to the side and moves well. He also had a number of transition moments after losing the ball where he won the ball back and looked very sharp. But that was also against Newcastle United, when he scored his first goal, and in the derby against Everton. You can see that he quickly adapts to that level.”
