Aston Villa will see one of their players, Emiliano Martinez, feature in the Qatar 2022 final between Argentina and France. But have any Villans stars ever won the World Cup before?
Martinez has helped La Albiceleste reach the final at the 22nd edition of FIFA’s quadrennial tournament this winter. The 30-year-old had never previously made an Argentina team for a World Cup. But the goalkeeper has played every minute of the South American’s six ties.
The Mar del Plata native has also recorded three clean sheets so far ahead of taking on the defending champions. Martinez shut out Mexico and Poland to help Argentina top Group C after losing to Saudi Arabia. He also denied Croatia in the semi-finals to secure a 3-0 result.
Have any Aston Villa players won the World Cup for Martinez to follow in 2022?
Yet Martinez’s most important performance at the 2022 World Cup came as Argentina and the Netherlands met in the quarter-finals. Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi initially gave La Albiceleste a 2-0 lead. But Oranje responded after the late introduction of Wout Weghorst.
The forward came off the bench as Louis Van Gaal switched tact to play route-one football. It was a simple change but it did the trick as Weghorst scored in the 83rd minute. He then hit again in the 101st from a smart free-kick routine that caught Lionel Scaloni’s squad out.
Neither team would score a winning goal in extra time, so the tie went to penalties. Then it was Martinez’s chance to steal the headlines. He denied Netherlands captain and Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk before turning away Steven Berghuis’ attempt with another strong save.
Going on to beat the defeated 2018 finalists, Croatia, in the semi-finals now sees Scaloni’s side face France. But have any Aston Villa players won the World Cup for Martinez to now follow? Well, no. He can be the first Villans star to lift the FIFA title with a win this Sunday.
Martinez already created a piece of Aston Villa history just by reaching the World Cup final at Qatar 2022. He is now the first Villans player to ever go all the way at a quadrennial FIFA tournament. But the £17m former Arsenal man will not want to settle for the silver medal.
Platt showed Villans players can perform on the global stage at Italia 90
While no Aston Villa players have yet won the World Cup for Martinez to now follow, they have seen some of their stars sparkle on the global stage before. David Platt, for example, helped England reach the semi-finals at Italia 90 during his Villa Park stay from 1988 to ‘91.
The midfielder only made his Three Lions debut in November 1989 and started Italia 90 as one of their substitutes. Yet Sir Bobby Robson would back Platt to play a key role after he came off the bench and scored their only goal as England beat Belgium in the Round of 16.
He produced a spectacular finish in the 119th minute to avoid a penalty shootout at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Platt then struck home again to open the scoring on his first start against Cameroon in the quarter-final. England would go on to win 3-2, again in extra time.
But even though Platt scored England’s third penalty in the semi-final shootout with West Germany after a 0-0 draw, the Three Lions fell to a defeat. Bodo Illgner saved from Stuart Pearce before Chris Waddle missed. Platt also scored as Italy won the third-place play-off.
Peter McParland also showed Villans players can perform on the global stage at Sweden 1958 with Northern Ireland. He helped the Green and White Army reach the quarter-final on their tournament debut. Northern Ireland have only qualified twice since in 1982 and 1986.
While Italia 90 also saw Paul McGrath and Tony Cascarino help the Republic of Ireland run to the quarter-finals. The 14th edition of FIFA’s tournament featured the Boys in Green for the first time. And McGrath ensured it would be memorable in an imposing defensive role.
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