Gary Neville noted how Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez had a ‘naughty little smirk’ on his face when he was shaking hands with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, after Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
Villa’s number one took to the podium to collect his Golden Glove award and he was congratulated by the many people on stage.
From FIFA president Gianni Infantino to France’s president, who had just watched his nation suffer penalty shootout heartache in one of the greatest-ever games to be played.
If you didn’t know it already, Emi Martinez is a wind-up merchant of the highest of highest orders.
From his thrash-talking to when you are stepping up to take a spot-kick to his cheeky little dancing if he pulls off a save, he will do anything and everything to grind the teeth of the opposition.
Even after the game had finished, when he collected his Golden Glove award, he imitated a certain action with his trophy when walking off the podium.
Either way, Neville was reacting to the look on Martinez’s face as he shook hands with Emmanuel Macron yesterday, as he told ITV Sport.
“Look at that little smirk on his face,” said Neville. “Like that naughty little smirk.”
EMI ‘DIBU’ MARTINEZ: THE KING OF HOUSERY…
From a mental standpoint, Martinez already has the game won when it comes to penalty shootouts.
No-one is more confident than the 30-year-old, he believes he will save everything and he knows he can save everything.
That’s three penalty shootouts he has been involved in during his career – all on the international stage – and they have all resulted in wins for Argentina.
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