Emiliano Martinez pulled up his shorts and performed a dance in front of Argentina바카라™s fans. (More Football News)
Once again the Argentina goalkeeper was his country바카라™s penalty-shootout star, this time at the World Cup.
Martinez made diving saves off penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis in a 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Friday, after the match finished 2-2 after extra time.
바카라śI couldn바카라™t help the boys by making a save in the first 90 minutes,바카라ť Martinez said, 바카라śbut I had to help them there.바카라ť
It바카라™s not the first time he has led Argentina to victory in a shootout.
Last year in the Copa America semifinals, the Aston Villa goalkeeper opted for an unconventional, controversial strategy before stopping shots from Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona as Argentina won 3-2 on penalties.
As Colombia바카라™s players got ready to take their kicks, the 30-year-old Martinez confronted them.
바카라śI am sorry, but I will stop you, bro,바카라ť Martinez yelled before he saved from Sanchez.
바카라śYou바카라™re laughing because you바카라™re nervous,바카라ť he then told Mina. 바카라śI know you.바카라ť
Argentina went on to beat Brazil in the final to end a 28-year wait for a major title.
Martinez was hardly restrained against the Netherlands, either. Before the shootout began, MartĂnez looked at the Argentina fans behind him and whipped them up. The noise was deafening inside Lusail Stadium as the Dutch players took their penalties.
When it was Berghuis바카라™ turn, Martinez took the ball from the Netherlands substitute to distract him.
Martinez then made the save and danced a jig.
바카라śThank God I saved two, and I could have saved more,바카라ť said MartĂnez, who fell to the ground after Lautaro Martinez converted the winning penalty before getting to his feet and running toward the Dutch bench to insult his opponents.
Much of his vitriol might have been directed at Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, who spoke ahead of the game about how confident he was that his team would win if it went to a penalty shootout.
Martinez said he took a screenshot of Van Gaal바카라™s words and sent them to his psychologist.
바카라śIt lit the dynamite,바카라ť Martinez said.
바카라śIn football, I learned that people do their talking on the field. They said a lot of stupid things before the game ... That made me stronger.바카라ťÂ
Speaking about Van Gaal in particular, Martinez said: 바카라śI think he needs to keep his mouth shut.바카라ť
Martinez didn바카라™t stop there. He also criticized the performance of Spanish referee, Antonio Mateu, saying he 바카라śwas giving everything for바카라ť the Netherlands them.
바카라śHe gave 10 minutes (of stoppage time) for no reason, he gave them free kicks outside the box two or three times,바카라ť Martinez said. 바카라śHe just wanted them to score. That바카라™s basically it.
바카라śI hope we don바카라™t have that referee any more. He is useless.바카라ť
