A new piece of Aston Villa history is set to be made by Emiliano Martínez on Sunday.
The 30-year-old is poised to become the first player in the club’s history to compete in the World Cup final when his beloved Argentina take on France in Qatar (ko 3pm).
Martínez has gone a step further than David Platt with England in 1990, Alpay Özalan with Turkey in 2002 and Ron Vlaar with Netherlands in 2014, who all endured semi-final heartbreak.
Recent years have seen Villa players reaching the finals of major tournaments: Tyrone Mings and Jack Grealish at Euro 2020, Trezeguet at AFCON in 2021, Douglas Luiz at the 2020 Olympics and Martínez himself at last year’s Copa América. Yet the imposing Argentine will be breaking new ground at Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday.
His performances between the posts during six games in Qatar have cemented ‘Dibu’ as one of his country’s key players alongside the supreme Lionel Messi.
A shock loss to Saudi Arabia on matchday one handed Martínez his first defeat in an Argentina shirt on his 20th cap. The Villa No1 bounced back in the best way possible, keeping consecutive clean sheets against Mexico and Poland as La Albiceleste topped Group C.
Argentina were in complete control of their Round of 16 tie against Australia before a wicked deflection took Craig Goodwin’s shot past Martínez to make it 2-1 with 13 minutes to play.
When the ball fell at the feet of Garang Kuol in the 97th minute, it seemed as though the Socceroos striker was set to equalise. Martínez had different ideas, flying out of his goal and smothering the shot.
The goalkeeper’s last-gasp heroics were nothing compared to what he would produce in a quarter-final match against the Netherlands. Beaten by two late goals in normal time, Martínez, who had an Argentina flag dyed into his hair for the knockout stages, readied himself for penalties.
He leapt to his right to keep out the first penalty of the shootout, denying Virgil van Dijk and promptly pumping up the crowd behind the goal. Millions more were glued to TV screens around the world to see what Martínez would do next.
A celebratory dance followed the saving of the Dutch’s second penalty; Steven Berghuis the man that was denied this time. His saves paved the way for Argentina to secure their place in the last four.
Croatia proved to be a hurdle that was overcome with relative ease, racking up a third clean sheet of the tournament for Martínez.
“I am so glad that this 26 [man] group of players are all fighters and we’ve got 45 million Argentinians all behind us,” he declared after reaching the final.
“It’s just amazing. We feel the crowd on the streets – they’re all full of Argentinians. Every time we play we’re at home.
“We feel like we’re at home. There’s 40,000, 50,000 Argentinians in every ground. We’re so happy to have them.”
At the beginning of June last year, the goalkeeper was hoping to finally win his first cap ten years on from his maiden call-up. On Sunday, he’ll be walking out to play in the biggest game in world football.
The 18 months that have elapsed between those two points in time have been a whirlwind that has seen him carry his tremendous club form into the international arena.
Silverware has already been won for his country at the Copa América and in Finalissima. Martínez will now be hoping to win the most coveted medal of all this weekend, while making a piece of Villa history along the way.
Win an Aston Villa Emi Martínez shirt
To celebrate our No1 reaching the World Cup final, we're giving away an Aston Villa Emi Martínez shirt to five lucky winners! If you're the winner, you can choose from home, away or third shirts.
Simply fill out the form below to enter!
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