Emi Martinez: Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martinez is on a 2-day visit to Kolkata. During his time, he is meeting with countless fans, witnessing their love for football and Argentina. He attended a chat show ‘Tahader Kotha’ on Tuesday where he answered some questions that had been eating away the minds of every Argentina fans around the world. Emi Martinez talked about winning three trophies for Argentina and how he is confident that they’ll win more. He talked about the magnificent Lionel Messi and if an Argentina captaincy is in question in the near future.
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Emi Martinez only started to play as Argentina’s first-choice goalkeeper in 2021. However, he quickly became one of the most important players of the team. He has been immaculate in penalty shootouts which have won Argentina several matches. During the chat show ‘Tahader Kotha’, he was asked whether he knew from the beginning of Copa America 2020 that he would be able to bring home the trophy.
Replying to the question, Martinez talked about his winning mentality and how confident he is about the future. He said, “I always thought, mentally I’m a winner, so, when I play in goal, I think that I can be the best. Winning the Copa, Finalissima, the World Cup in 2 years, we won everything internationally and we’re gonna win the next Copa America and hopefully the next World Cup.”
Seeing his confidence, faith in his team, and leadership qualities, he was asked if he saw himself leading Argentina as their captain in the next World Cup if Messi is not there. He replied, “I don’t know. I just want to win the next Copa America. After that, let’s see what happens. Now my only goal is to win the Copa America.”
He was asked how he and the team stayed motivated after losing the World Cup’s first match against Saudi. he said, “It was my first defeat as an Argentina player, so I was sad for 3-4 days… but then we’ve got the best player in the world and a mentally strong team, they call it a ‘mentality monster’ team…”
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Following his train of thought, interviewer Satadru Dutta asked if he’s accepting that Lionel Messi is the best footballer in the world. To the question, Dibu cheekily gave a short reply saying “He [Messi] completed football, so…”
Lastly, he talked about the night that made all Argentina fans’ dreams come true. Before the match went to the penalty shootout, a shot from Kolo Muani in the 120+3rd minute could have ended Argentina’s dream. However, there came Dibu Martinez, hero of the hour who saved the shot and in a way, won the match for Argentina. Talking about it, he said, “In the last kick of the game, they had a 1v1, thanks to God I saved it. In Argentina, they call it [pointing to his left leg by which he saved the ball] ‘Leg of God‘.”
He played some clever psychological tricks during the final match against France. It affected the world of football in such a manner that FIFA changed their rules following this. Talking about the penalty shootout and reacting to the rules change, Dibu said, “I practiced my psychology the night before the final. What can I do to make chaos or generate chaos? One of them was throwing the ball away and I made him miss. Play with the referee and all things I did. FIFA even changed the rules. So, you know it worked. I already won the World Cup.”
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