Emiliano Martinez up to his usual tricks as Argentina beat Chile

The past couple of seasons has seen Emi Martinez become one of the best goalkeepers in world football with consistently fantastic performances for both his club Aston Villa and his country Argentina. Martinez, nicknamed Dibu by the locals in his home nation, has also grown himself a reputation for some of his behavioural antics on the pitch.

Argentina have won two games from two so far at the Copa America beating Canada 2-0 before snatching a 1-0 victory over Chile last night. Those results now mean Martinez has been capped 41 times by his country and kept a clean sheet in 28 of those which is a very good record. Last night's match saw the Argentines snatch a late victory with the solo goal coming in the 88th minute and it is fair to say Emi Martinez did not hold back in his celebrations.

With a stand behind his goal packed with Chile supporters, Emi Martinez ran back from near the half way line as the goal went in towards the opposition fans. He jumped up on to the advertising boards with his arms aloft whilst letting out a tremendous roar. Martinez's actions provoked a strong reaction from the Chilean supporters with many letting Martinez know how they felt with different hand gestures and obscenities.

As Villa and Argentina fans will know, Martinez is certainly not shy in showing his passion and emotion on the pitch and often has been described by many as the Premier League's biggest sh***houses!

Villa fans will remember a historic night in Lille as Villa progressed through the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League. Aston Villa won a tense penalty shootout where Martinez proved the hero with two crucial saves to send Villa through. With the French crowd on his back behind the goal, due to his heroics that won Argentina the World Cup Final against France in 2022, he was quick to give them the 'shh' signal and a victory dance at the game's conclusion.

Another memorable moment in a Villa shirt came at Old Trafford back in 2021 when a late Bruno Fernandes penalty miss sparked another hilarious moment by Dibu. With Villa winning 1-0, Manchester United were awarded a late penalty in front of the Stretford End only for Fernandes to sky it high and wide. In the build up to the penalty being taken, Martinez spent his time winding up Fernandes's teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. As the penalty sailed off into the crowd, Martinez jumped up and turned to the Old Trafford faithful behind the goal to produce a similar dance to that in Lille. Comical.

Of course, his most famous controversial moment came during the trophy presentation after Argentina's World Cup final win over France. Following heroics in extra-time with the last gasp one-on-one save to keep Argentina's hopes alive he was the main man in the penalty shootout. Martinez saved a penalty before playing the mind games that forced Tchouameni to miss his. Following the game, when collecting his Golden Glove award for most clean sheets at the tournament he turned to the French fans and used the trophy to symbolise, well, have a look for yourself below. Again, comical.

Never change Emiliano, never change.

UTV