BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez already had a knack for irritating his opponents as a child.
At a young age, well before he became a World Cup champion with Argentina, Martínez had tricks to unsettle the attackers he faced in youth tournaments in Mar del Plata, a seaside resort south of Buenos Aires.
If he didn’t feel like he was being tested enough, “Dibu” was capable of deliberately giving up rebounds so that opposing forwards would take more shots, Jorge Peta, one of his first coaches, revealed. Peta added: “He was already known for talking a lot.”
A national hero for his stunning save to deny Randal Kolo Muani a late goal in the final against France at Qatar 2022 and his sixth sense for saving penalties, Martinez’ provocative temperament has deprived the star ‘keeper of unanimous recognition from the soccer world.
Excessive celebrations and a strategy of distracting opponents before penalty kicks have earned him sanctions and resulted in FIFA enacting a code of conduct for goalkeepers in penalty shootouts.
While Argentine captain Lionel Messi considers Martínez “fundamental” for Argentina and “one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” he does have critics. Italian coach Fabio Capello and Edwin Van der Sar, the legendary former goalkeeper for Ajax and Manchester United, are among them. Emmanuel Petit, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, suggested the Aston Villa goalkeeper get help to control his emotions.
“What people think doesn’t affect me. They can have all their opinions, good or bad, but I know who I am, the kind of person I am,” Martínez, 33, responded to his detractors in an interview with ESPN in May 2025. “Off the field, I’m a dad, a husband, a son, but on the field, I just want to win, nothing else.”
He’ll set to return to the big stage again with the Albiceleste at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which kicks off on June 11.
The Martinez list
Martínez was relatively unknown to most fans until he was picked for Argentina.
Without ever playing in the Argentine first division, he left as a teenager for Arsenal, where he never established himself as the starting goalkeeper and was loaned out to lower-tier clubs including Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United, and Reading.
Despite his lack of playing time, Martínez was called up by Lionel Scaloni for the senior national team in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his debut in June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Chile. From then on, Argentina’s goal had a new owner.
“I am sorry, but I will stop you, bro,“ he told Colombian defender Davinson Sánchez before stopping the first of the three penalties he would save in the 2021 Copa América semifinal, which Argentina would later win.
Martínez’s psychological mastery of penalty kicks would have another chapter in the 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals, in a match that became known as “the Battle of Lusail” — named after the stadium in Qatar.
Utilizing his imposing height and distracting tricks, he made diving saves to Virgil van Dijk’s first penalty and then to Steven Berghuis’ attempt. He celebrated with a dance that would later be imitated by Argentine children.
In the unforgettable final against France — Argentina led three times, and Kylian Mbappé scored a hat trick to force a penalty shootout — he stood like a wall, deflecting Kingsley Coman’s shot. When it was Aurélien Tchouaméni’s turn, Martínez tossed the ball away to delay the penalty kick. The current Real Madrid player lost the mental battle and shot wide.
His saves that night were noteworthy, as was his controversial gesture with the trophy for the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
“I didn’t plan to come back sad (from the World Cup), that was my only goal,” he said in a 2023 interview with Argentina’s public television channel. “In my mind, I wouldn’t have accepted playing football if I had lost the final. I wouldn’t have been able to because of the pain.”
Code of conduct
In the wake of the World Cup, FIFA implemented a code of conduct for goalkeepers. It prohibits psychological games, using tactics to delay a penalty kick, and speaking or gesturing to distract the kicker.
In 2024, FIFA suspended Martínez for two matches for offensive behavior and violations of fair play principles during the matches against Chile and Colombia in the South American World Cup qualifiers.
Mission: Back-to-back World Cups
Despite the controversies, coach Scaloni has confirmed his goalkeeper for the upcoming World Cup, which he enters more firmly established as Aston Villa’s goalkeeper and fresh off winning the Europa League.
Martínez fractured the ring finger of his right hand in the final against Freiburg, but he will be available for the World Cup opener on June 16 against Algeria in Group J, which also includes Austria and Jordan.
“Everything else is part of his personality, and that’s that. We focus on the purely sporting aspect,” said the Argentine coach.
On the eve of the World Cup, Martínez’s No. 23 jersey is one of the most sought-after, along with Messi’s No. 10 10, proof of the following he has among Argentine fans.
The goalkeeper ignores his detractors and focuses on his legacy.
“The most important thing we take away from this is that Argentina will have many goalkeepers in the future,” Martínez said. “The love for goalkeeping has returned.”
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup.
