Aston Villa star shared his opinion after the semifinal match between England and Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Atlanta.
The clash of England and Argentina in the 20206 world cup semifinal might have been over but the media has yet to stop discussing about it. Some said about Lionel Messi, England’s tactical mistake, or so on, while some others pointed out the Malvinas War banner or Jordan Pickord’s water bottle discovered on the pitch by Albiceleste with the special notes for penalties.
However, only a few talked about the encounter of Aston Villa men in the press. It is considered the greatest Villa men duel at the world cup as it involved three key men, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa on England side and Emiliano Martinez on Argentina side.
The latter recently left a comment on the game and his opposition side. He has owed his career to England and particularly to Aston Villa, who put great trust on him, which led on his rise and eventually stardom. Martinez’s view was reported in Birmingham Live yesterday.
“It was crazy. I thought we played really well in the first half. We dominated them. We know how strong they are in set-pieces and how physical they are. I’ve played there for 16 years and I know them really well.”
The 33-year old goalkeeper who sets the new record as the only Aston Villa men with 14 games in the tournament so far, another record for Villa man, shares his view on how Argentina eventually won the match.
“We moved the ball well. They went in front with one cross into the box with only one in the box and they scored. We had the experience of coming back from losing positions. They started defending a little bit deeper and that gave us a bit of an advantage through the lines. Getting Messi on the wing was the key for us.”
“We felt it. We felt them going backwards and backwards rather than going forward. Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward anyway. You can’t change the gameplan. I think they did it and they put extra defenders.”
Martinez’s form in this year’s world cup is sufficiently satisfactory but still less convincing compared to Qatar 2022. He had to play with pain barrier due to his finger injury at the Europa League final.
He only made two clean sheets and nine saves in total, ahead of the final versus Spain in New Jersey later this weekend. Unlike four years ago, Martinez has yet to experience penalty shootout. That could probably change in the final.
Based on the data in FotMob, the former Arsenal man has only 56.2 % saving percentage, four high claims which is far less than in Qatar 2022 (12). Yet, he has done better in successful passes, up to 74.6 % and accurate long balls, which has reached 33.8 %. In Qatar 2022, his successful passes and accurate long balls were only 56.6 % and 17.5 % respectively.
It is still unclear if he could win Golden Glove again this year. However, he certainly still has a chance to claim it, should he improve his form in the summit.
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