More than 100,000 folks gathered on Thursday within the coastal city of Mar del Plata, some 400 kilometres from Buenos Aires, to cheer for his or her hometown hero – Argentina’s World Cup hero Emi Martinez.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper, who hails from probably the most tourist-heavy spots on the Argentine coast, was honoured in entrance of a crowd of individuals, who celebrated his two penalty shootouts – quarter-finals towards the Netherlands and within the remaining towards France.
The goalkeeper indicated that in penalty shootouts he’s “sturdy” and is aware of that opponents “respect” him.
“After I saved the primary penalty (towards France), I knew the opposite man (Aurelien Tchouameni) was going to be nervous, and he missed. He screwed all the things up,” Martinez mentioned to the applause of the Mar del Plata crowd.
Martinez, who got here with the match’s Golden Glove award and the winners’ medal, mentioned captain Leo Messi “is the perfect participant on the planet” and his dream, like the remainder of the group, was “to present Leo a title within the nationwide group”.
After the victories within the Copa America (2021) and the World Cup, he mentioned: “my remaining dream as goalkeeper was to present the perfect on the planet the World Cup in order that there isn’t a doubt that he’s the perfect participant in historical past.”
Martinez recalled his origins on a dust pitch within the Jardin neighbourhood of Mar del Plata and expressed his “satisfaction” at having grow to be a world champion with Argentina.
“Each sport we performed we mentioned we had been taking part in for the folks,” Martinez added. “We do not go to the nationwide group for cash, however for the colors. ??”Seeing Mar del Plata or the boys from every metropolis with so many individuals was a supply of satisfaction. When our legs weren’t sturdy sufficient, our hearts had been at all times a step forward.”