Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has spoken out about his controversial Golden Glove moment yesterday.
Martinez was awarded the Golden Glove following his team’s win against France in the World Cup final - but his slightly unusual celebration drew attention online. Check it out here:
After accepting his trophy - which is shaped like a goalie’s glove for obvious reasons - Martinez decided to place it in front of his crotch as though it was some sort of hand-shaped d**k.
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The moment caused a bit of a stir online, with one person posting: "Emiliano Martinez of Argentina with [the] Golden Glove and [the] Sheikh's reaction. He is wild [as f**k]."
Another added: "Emiliano Martinez with the Golden Glove award as a massive c**k. Lovely."
But now the Aston Villa goalie has shared why he did it, and it turns out he wasn’t impressed with the behaviour of rival fans.
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He told Argentine radio station La Red: “I did it because the French booed me. Arrogance does not work with me.”
Bizarrely, this isn’t the first time Martinez has done such a gesture - last year he did pretty much the same thing when he was given the same award during the Copa America.
At least he’s consistent, eh?
Argentina and France were locked at a 3-3 draw at the final whistle after the game was pushed into extra time - meaning the winner was to be decided via penalties.
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France’s Kylian Mbappe was first up and managed to get one past Martinez.
Kingsley Coman was up next for the French side - he fired his penalty off to the same direction as Mbappe but Martinez managed to save it.
When it was the turn of Aurélien Tchouaméni, Martinez rolled the ball away from the Real Madrid midfielder as he was walking to the spot, celebrating with the Argentinian fans whilst doing so.
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And the cheeky move paid off as it appeared to pile more pressure on Tchouaméni who fired his penalty wide, cementing Argentina’s win.
Speaking after the match, Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni said: “The match was completely insane. I know it’s just a football game, a World Cup, and we shouldn’t think any further, but in Argentina, football is not just football. We have to celebrate.
"It wasn’t in my plans. I didn’t envisage to be World Cup winners, but now we are and the most important thing is how we achieved this.”
It's the third time the country has won the World Cup having previously topped the tournament in 1978 and 1986.
Claire Reid