Emiliano Martínez was one of the main reasons that Argentina won the 2022 World Cup. The Aston Villa goalkeeper, whom Defector previously called “mercurial and emotional,” saved two shootout penalties against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, and saved one in today’s match. He also made an incredible kick-save in the the 123rd minute to get the final to a shootout.
“Two crappy shots and [France] leveled,” he said postgame. “They give them another penalty, they scored. Thank God later I did my thing, what I dreamed of.” As a result of doing his thing, Martínez was named the winner of the World Cup’s Golden Glove award. The Golden Glove trophy is pretty funny looking, as it’s just a Giant Hand. Let’s see how Martínez reacted when he got his award.
On no, indeed. The morality-obsessed New York Post called it a “vulgar gesture.” The Telegraph’s headline was a tad over the top: “Emiliano Martinez shocks watching world with lewd gesture after Argentina's World Cup win.” I do suppose these are both true.
But what I really want to see, that no other outlet is currently providing you, is a close-up of Martínez’s face from the lead photo on this blog post.
Yup, that’s the face you make when you win the World Cup.
