Shirtless and with the physique lacking the defined muscles of outfield players, goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez was looking for someone with his eyes. It took a few seconds before he found the target in the Lusail stadium. It was Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal.
“I fucked you twice. Ok? I fucked you twice!”, he shouted, while being restrained by members of the coaching staff. Before turning away, he still cursed his rival one more time.
The “twice” were the saves from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis in the penalty shoot-out. Bidding that took Argentina to the semifinals of the World Cup in Qatar after a 2-2 draw in normal time and extra time for the quarterfinals.
Nerves were on edge after jostling, insults and heated arguments for 120 minutes. The South American team was leading by 2-0 until the 38th minute of the second half and ended up drawing in the last move, at the 55th minute.
Dibu’s revolt was because Van Gaal said that, in his opinion, Holland would have an advantage if the decision took place on penalties. For the goalkeeper, the opinion was offensive because it affected his pride as a specialist in defending these charges.
He also complained (like all the other players) about the refereeing of the Spaniard Mateo Lahroz. He called it “useless”. But his greatest fury was with Van Gaal whom, in an interview after the match, he told him to “shut up”.
“Dibu needs that kind of encouragement for himself. It’s his way of motivating himself, of moving forward, and it usually works,” says his brother, Alejandro Martínez, who lives in Mar del Plata. “Some of the things he said have already gone down in history.”
In the teasing game, Martínez is an old-fashioned baller. He doesn’t have the slightest fear of cursing his rival, dancing in front of him when making the defense and saying things that irritate him. He repeated the strategy against the Dutch. All European collectors heard some joke from the South American.
“Mirá como te como, brother” (look how you eat, brother), shouted to Colombian Yerry Mina before the penalty shoot-out for the 2021 Copa América semifinal. moment entered the fan’s imagination.
The goalkeeper would still star in a commercial for the Argentine chain of snack bars Mostaza in which he repeated his catchphrase.
He would later swear that he had provoked Mina because the Colombians would have called the Argentines “cold feet” for always losing decisive games.
“Dibu is living his dream. Since he was a little boy, since he started playing, he said he would be a starter for the Argentine national team”, adds his brother Alejandro.
Not just because of the goalkeeper, but also because of him, Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina for statements made after the quarterfinals. Lionel Messi also questioned the Spanish referee and even asked “What are you looking at, silly?” for striker Wout Weghorst in the post-match interview zone.
Teasing can be a form of protection for someone who has had to mature quickly and far from home. Martínez, 30, has never played professionally in Argentina. He was bought by Arsenal (ING) when he was 16 years old, in 2008. He ended up on loan to successive teams and, in most of them, he didn’t get a chance to play.
Only in 2020, at 28, did he have a streak in the English team, won the FA Cup and was bought by Aston Villa, where he is now a starter.
“He even questioned, at times, whether he should continue his career, since he couldn’t act”, recalls his brother.
The provocations are not well received by everyone, not even within Argentina. Nacho González, a former international goalkeeper, said Dibu was letting his character take over. Alfio Basile, a historic coach who led Alviceleste in the 1994 World Cup, asked that these things stop.
Martínez himself acknowledged that this is not the image he wants to pass on to the children who look up to him as an idol.
“If I could give advice to young players, it would be to get a psychologist and do yoga or pilates. They can save their careers,” he said in an interview with Spanish daily El País.
Despite his outbursts on the field, he talks to a psychologist three or four times a week. When he burst into tears in the locker room after beating Colombia in the 2021 Copa America, she was the one he called to calm down and stay centered.
Other members of the selection have already said that the goalkeeper is missing “a few screws”. Not that anyone thought about it when Dibu Martínez made the saves that took Argentina to the World Cup semifinals. Being crazy might even have been a virtue. It also made him adored by the fans who, as they left the Lusail stadium, shouted his name with the same intensity as Messi’s.
It’s a campaign to fulfill the promise he made to himself: if he had a chance to be called up to the Worlds, he would train like never before.
For that, and in the name of being a champion, he even gave up his favorite meal: Pringles potatoes with Coca-Cola.
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