In one year, Emiliano Martínez became a starter, won the Copa América and reached the semifinals of the Copa

Due to a case of Covid-19, the life of goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez, 30, has completely changed in just over a year in the Argentine national team.

It all started with the call-up for the 2021 Copa America in Brazil. The team’s starter at the time, Franco Armani, 36, caught the disease and had to be sidelined two days before the tournament. Thus, Martínez was raised by coach Lionel Scaloni to the title. It was his debut with the alviceleste shirt.

During the competition, he gained confidence until he was decisive in the semifinal against Colombia. After a 1-1 draw in normal time, he made three saves in the penalty kicks and led Argentina to the decision against Brazil.

With a goal by Di María, he became champion, ending a drought of titles in Argentina that had lasted 28 years.

From then on, he gained the confidence of the group and the coach and established himself as the main goalkeeper in the country. In the Qatar Cup, he produced consistent performances in every game and was once again decisive on penalties against the Netherlands.

He defended the charges from Van Dijk and Berghuis, paving the way for qualification to the semifinals, when he will face Croatia, the executioner of the Brazilian team.

He dedicated the victory to the Argentine people. “The first thing that comes to mind is emotion. I do this for 45 million people. Giving people joy like this is the best thing right now. We are in the semifinals because we have passion and heart. We are excited, and so are the people. “, commented after the match.

Formed in the base categories of Independiente de Mar del Plata, his hometown, Martínez comes from a poor family and made his professional career in England. At the age of 16, he was traded to Arsenal (ING) and played only friendlies for the club’s youth teams until he turned 18.

In the following years, he was loaned to several English clubs, such as Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Reading, in addition to the Spanish Getafe.

His big break at Arsenal came in June 2020 when first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno suffered an injury. Elevated to the title, Martínez made good performances and was champion of the English League Cup.

This achievement was his showcase. He took the chance and decided to go to Aston Villa, where he currently plays and is in the starting line-up.

With more game rhythm, he also caught the attention of coach Lionel Scaloni and had his great opportunity at the Copa América in Brazil.

The goalkeeper has been called up to Argentina’s youth teams since under-17. In the main group, he has already made 24 matches, with 16 wins, 7 draws and only 1 defeat, precisely the debut in the Qatar Cup, 2 to 1 for Saudi Arabia.

Married to Mandinha Martínez, Dibu has two children, Santi, 4, and Ava, 2. He also has a brother, Alejandro, who started his career as a football player at Independiente, but gave up and today owns a mechanic shop in Mar del Plata.

Dibu is a declared fan of Lionel Messi and says he keeps the first photos he took with the idol. Now, he has the opportunity to work side by side with him and share the glory of his achievements. Who knows the dreamed World Cup.

In winning the 2021 Copa América, the goalkeeper demonstrated, in an interview with the newspaper Olé, all his admiration for Messi, who had praised him on social networks.

“When he posts a ‘he’s a phenomenon’ photo, how am I not going to perform in the final? I want to give my life, I want to die for him. I hope we can give him the World Cup”, he said, after being the hero of the semifinals against to Colombia.

Now in Qatar, after qualifying for the semifinals, Messi was once again full of praise for his teammate. “We had no doubt [sobre Martínez]🇧🇷 We know that when we go to penalties we have an advantage with him in goal. Today he demonstrated it once again”, said the number 10.