Lionel Messi hailed Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez after he was the hero during Argentina’s penalty shootout win against Colombia on Tuesday night.
Aston Villa’s shot-stopper saved three penalties during the Copa America semi-final showdown and Messi labelled him a ‘phenomenon’, as quoted by Goal.
All three of Martinez’s saves were to his left-hand side and it also included stopping Premier League duo, Yeri Mina and Davinson Sanchez, from putting the ball into the back of the net.
This will be no surprise to the Villa faithful because they have seen the rise of Martinez during these past 12 months, but this is what Messi had to say about his teammate.
“We have Emi who is a phenomenon,” said Messi.
“We trusted him. We achieved the goal of being able to play all the games and now we are going to the final.”
Argentina will now meet Brazil in the Copa America final, with Martinez set to come head-to-head with his Villa teammate, Douglas Luiz.
Villa fans will be hoping they won’t be the only Villa players reaching a final because Jack Grealish and Tyrone Mings have that chance today.
England take on Denmark at Euro 2020 with a roaring 60,000-strong Wembley crowd behind them.
If it does indeed go down to penalties then Jordan Pickford will be hoping to channel his inner-Martinez and guide his team to the final.
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