‘I didn’t set out to hurt anyone…’ – Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez justifies his disputed World Cup final celebration
Argentina had their moment of glory in Qatar when they were crowned World Champions after beating France 4-2 on penalties in the final after the scores were tied 3-3 during extra time. goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was one of the vital cogs in the wheel for Argentina. He put in a huge save in the last minute of extra time and pulled two fantastic saves in the penalty shootout as well.
When the awards ceremony took place Martinez’s celebration after he was awarded the ‘Golden Glove’ became a point of debate. When he got the award, he took the award in his groin area and celebrated weirdly. This celebration was done at Copa America in 2021 as well when he got the award for the best goalkeeper. Argentina became World Champions in 2022 after losing in 2014 in the final to Germany.
I would not celebrate again in the same way – Emiliano Martinez
The goalkeeper made sure he talked about his celebration in detail saying, “Do I regret the celebrations? Well, there are things I wouldn’t do again in the same way, I didn’t set out to hurt anyone. Throughout my career, I’ve played with French people and I’ve never had a problem… You can ask Giroud what kind of person I am. I really like French culture and mentality”, Martinez was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
“The gesture I made with the best goalkeeper trophy was a joke with my team-mates. I had already done it at the Copa America, and they all said to me: ‘No way’ to do it again. Even Leo told me that. I did it for them, nothing more. It lasted a second and that was it”, Martinez further added. The World Cup campaign for Argentina started with a shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia but the Lionel Messi-led side shrugged off the blip to comeback in grand fashion to win the World Cup in Qatar.
The 2022 World Cup was a tournament full of upsets and teams like Morocco and Saudi Arabia gave a good account of themselves in the tournament. Portugal did not have the best of campaigns as they crashed out in the quarterfinals. Cristiano Ronaldo was a pale shade of what he normally is and he did not have the best of tournaments.
