Aston Villa star shared his opinion on the chance of meeting his teammate in the 2026 World Cup semifinal in Atlanta tonight.
Aston Villa star, Ezri Konsa has been in his fine form with England during the world cup campaign in North America. Compared to his teammates, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, Konsa has been playing regularly. He has been a starter in each and every England game at the world cup.
Ahead of the semifinal against Argentina, which is tipped to be the greatest match in World Cup history involving Aston Villa men, Konsa is aware that he has to face off his teammate in Villa Park, Emiliano Martinez in the game.
The England defender shared his comments on meeting the Argentina’s number one goalkeeper on the pitch as reported in The Mirror.
“I haven’t had the chance to speak to him, I’m sure when I see him tomorrow it will be nice to see him again after a long time. Once we get on that pitch, there’s no friends.”
The former Brentford man is surely aware of his teammate’s capability between the sticks after playing for six years with him. He added it in his comments while talking to the press.
“He is a fantastic keeper, great keeper. I have played alongside him for many years, his mentality and the way he wants to win, I have learned some things from him from my time at Villa, so it will be nice to see him tomorrow. Everyone knows Emi Martinez, we know what he’s about and know what he can do so we will be ready. “
The defender with 26 international caps confessed that he did not have a chance to see how Lionel Messi and Co play. He commented on his view on the reigning champions.
“We haven’t managed to watch any of their games. I’m sure, when we have the meeting tonight or tomorrow, we’ll see some clips of them and see what we can do to overcome them. I’m sure they’ve got a great mindset, great mentality, and so do we.”
The centre back who arrived in Villa Park in 2019 was deployed as right back. It is the different position he has been playing so far, including at the world cup. Konsa’s main position is at the centre of the backline. Yet, he does not seem to mind with it, as he shared his opinion to the press.
“It’s a position that I’m very familiar with. I’ve always said wherever the manager wants me to be, I’ll always do my best and I feel comfortable there whether it’s centre back or right back. So we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow if I’m doing the same role.”
It is actually not the first time he plays as full back. In fact, Konsa has been deployed in that position five times in an England shirt. In his first three appearances under Gareth Southgate, the former Charlton man did play wide in the friendly matches against Brazil, Belgium and Bosnia ahead of EURO 2024.
He featured twice more as a right back, against Netherlands as a cameo in EURO 2024 semifinal, and in the friendly match versus Wales in October 2025. That was when he contributed his first assist in the international match. He set up Three Lions’ third goal scored by Bukayo Saka.
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