Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has seemingly been revelling in his opponents’ downfall more than his nation’s World Cup triumph. After targeting Kylian Mbappe with mockery after defeating France in Sunday’s final in Qatar, Martinez revived his hostilities with Louis van Gaal.
Argentina’s heroes have been celebrating the country’s third World Cup win on home soil this week, being welcomed back by millions of compatriots in Buenos Aires. And after making headlines as the Albiceleste’s penalty saviour, Martinez has remained front-page news in the aftermath of the tournament.
The Aston Villa stopper garnered criticism for his brutal mockery of France and Mbappe after Argentina’s success at the Lusail Stadium. In the dressing room, he asked for a minute’s silence for Mbappe before lifting a toy baby with the French forward’s face stuck onto it during the trophy parade earlier this week.
But they weren’t the first occasions he revelled in his opponents’ defeat, shouting a series of abusive comments toward Van Gaal after Argentina dumped the Netherlands out on penalties in the quarter-finals. Martinez said, ‘I f**ked you twice’, in reference to saving Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis’ spot-kicks.
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And in front of Argentinian fans this week, Martinez reignited his feud with the departing Dutch boss. The controversial 30-year-old stated Van Gaal’s claims that his side would progress if the game went to penalties fuelled him to deny them a place in the final four.
He said: “I still remember that before the match, the national coach of the Netherlands criticised our captain Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria. He said that the Netherlands were going to win when it came to penalties. However, the truth was different.”
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Martinez also admitted he saved Van Gaal’s quotes on his phone to use as motivation for his shoot-out heroics and to show his goalkeeper coach and psychologist. “They shouted a lot of nonsense before the game,” Martinez proclaimed.
“I learned that in football, you have to speak on the field. I got a lot of energy from their statements before the game. That made me stronger, and I told them that too. I took a screenshot of the statements on my phone. I showed it to the goalkeeper coach and to my psychologist. I said it worked like dynamite. I wanted to shut them up.”
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