LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Emiliano Martínez pulled up his shorts and performed a dance in front of Argentina fans.
The Argentine goalkeeper was once again the star in his country’s penalty shootout, this time in the World Cup.
Martinez dove saving penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Netherlands. in the quarterfinals on Friday, after the match ended 2-2 after extra time.
“I couldn’t help the guys by making a save in the first 90 minutes,” Martinez said, “but I had to help them there.”
It is not the first time he has led Argentina to victory in a shootout.
Last year, in the semi-finals of the Copa América, the Aston Villa goalkeeper opted for a controversial and unconventional strategy before saving shots from Davinson Sánchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona as Argentina won 3-2 on penalties.
As the Colombia players prepared to take their shots, the 30-year-old Martinez faced them.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll stop you, brother,” Martínez yelled before saving Sánchez.
“You laugh because you’re nervous,” she told Mina. “I know you.”
Argentina went on to beat Brazil in the final to end a 28-year wait for a major title.
Martinez didn’t hold back against the Netherlands either.
Before the shootout began, Martínez looked at the Argentine fans behind him and cheered them on. The noise was deafening inside the Lusail Stadium as the Dutch players took their penalties.
When it was Berghuis’ turn, Martínez took the ball from the Dutch substitute to distract him.
Martínez then made the save and danced a jig.
“Thank God I saved two, and I could have saved more,” said Martínez, who fell to the ground after Lautaro Martínez converted the winning penalty before rising to his feet and running towards the Dutch bench to insult his opponents.
Much of his virulence could have been directed at Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, who spoke before the match about his confidence his team would win if it went to a penalty shootout.
Martínez said that he took a screenshot of Van Gaal’s words and sent them to his psychologist.
“He lit the dynamite,” Martinez said.
“In football I learned that people talk on the field. They said a lot of stupid things before the game… That made me stronger”.
Speaking of Van Gaal in particular, Martinez said: “I think he needs to keep his mouth shut.”
Martinez did not stop there. He also criticized the performance of the Spanish referee, Antonio Mateu, saying that he was “giving everything for” the Netherlands.
“He gave them 10 minutes (of stoppage time) for no reason, he gave them free kicks outside the box two or three times,” Martinez said. “He just wanted them to score. That’s basically all.
“I hope we don’t have that referee anymore. He is useless.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
