Aston Villa star has revealed how he has suffered during the World Cup campaign due to his decision regarding his recent injury.
Aston Villa star Emiliano Martinez has been injured recently, which led to his absence in the final Premier League game of the season against Manchester City. He suffered a broken finger prior to the Europa League final in Istanbul.
The Argentine remained on the pitch and helped Villa end their 30-year title drought there. Then, he did not feature in a single game for either his club or country until the group opener against Algeria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He eventually started all three group-stage games and now holds the record for the Aston Villa man with the most World Cup appearances in history, with 10 matches.
Nevertheless, he appeared to ignore his injury. Recently, Martinez shared his thoughts on his current condition and his decision to do so, as reported by Birmingham world.
“I decided not to get surgery and honestly, I had a rough time and was really struggling. I came here really risking it and couldn’t train. I still haven’t trained with the group.”
Martinez reportedly suffered a fracture to his right ring finger during the warm-up before the Europa League final. He was advised to undergo surgery. Yet, he opted to ignore the advice in order to be able to play in his nation’s mission to defend the title. Fortunately, his national team manager supported his decision.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper did manage to feature in all three group-stage games, but not without pain. He has been using a protective splint. However, the finger is still swollen, and the fluid in it has to be drained by the medical staff so that he can play with less pain.
Ahead of the next fixture against Cape Verde in the Round of 32, Martinez still hopes he can play the entire game without the splint, as he shared with the press after the 3-1 win over Jordan last week.
“I think by the next match I can play without the splint, which is super uncomfortable. The glove feels really loose.”
Despite playing through the pain of his injury, the shot-stopper, who has recently been all over the news due to his link with a move to an Italian giant, has been able to produce fine performances. Thanks to Argentina’s solid defence, Martinez has only had to make one save in three games. It came in the toughest match against Austria.
Based on the data from FotMob, the former Arsenal man has still managed to make two high claims, complete 64 successful passes, and deliver 12 accurate long balls. However, he did concede one goal in the final group-stage game against tournament debutants Jordan.
Martinez will certainly hope that his teammates in defence continue to keep the opposition at bay so that he has less demanding work between the sticks. Otherwise, he could aggravate his injury and lose his spot in the team as well as a chance to move to Italian top flight.
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