2022 FIFA WC final rewind: ‘I hate him’, with clutch extra time save and shootout antics, Emiliano Martinez makes France hate him for eternity | Football News

Imagine being Kolo Muani. 24 years of age, less than a dozen outings for the national team under the belt, and there you are, right in the thick of the action in a World Cup final. Seconds left until the stoppage time in extra time runs out. The score, 3-3. And then it comes, one lofted ball over the top of the defence, which sets you free with just the keeper to beat. One kick away from lifting the World Cup. Your first ever, France’s third. Most who take up to the sport crave for a moment of this magnitude to come their way. It eludes most. In the fraction of a second he had before executing the decisive kick, maybe Muani thought he wasn’t among them.
To his left, stood the goal wide open. But for some reason, Muani couldn’t res the tiny outlet open to his right. A narrower one for sure, but maybe that’s where the Argentine keeper wouldn’t expect him to go. In his attempt to close in on the French substitute, maybe the latter had left it open unwittingly. He hadn’t. “It was as if I said to him, ‘Go on, put it there.’ I made him strike it there,” he’d reveal later. And put there Muani did, only for the 6 ‘4’’ shot stopper to block it with a stretch of his left leg.

“I’m not going to lie, I hate (Emiliano) Martinez,” Muani recently summed it up to L’Equipe. It was the save of the tournament. The french substitutes and reserves had already breached the playing area in jubilation when they realized it wasn’t to be. For thousands of Argentines at the Lusail Stadium in Doha – including Martinez’s 10 teammates on the pitch – the audible gasp was followed a loud cheer. To penalties it went, a territory their guardian had made his speciality over the years.

Owing to his fiery brand of play, Martinez has always courted controversy on and off the field, something that was missing among the Argentine goalies of the recent past. A dominating presence in the penalty box, an unspoken vice-captain in the locker room, and someone who could get his hands dirty. Dibu, as he is fondly referred to in the dressing room, was different. Known for his penchant of winding up opponent players, messing with their confidence.
Ask Criano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes about it. During a 2021 Premier League fixture at Old Trafford, Manchester United were awarded a penalty against Martinez’s Aston Villa, which Fernandes elected to take. The Argentine goalkeeper would see Ronaldo’s not-so-pleased-reaction and that was all the ammo he needed for his mind games.
“I saw Ronaldo disappointed for not taking it, and I thought there is tension here. I said to him, ‘come on, you take it now’. He (Ronaldo) doesn’t want to shoot. I said to (Edinson) Cavani ‘why is Ronaldo not shooting?’ It’s not even trash-talk. I create chaos. It was the 92nd minute of the game, I had to dract him in some way because they’ve got everything to win,” the World Cup winner had revealed to Ian Wright on Behind the Game series. The ‘chaos’ paid off leading to Fernandes missing the crucial penalty and Martinez taunting the Manchester crowd with the now infamous provocative dance as Villa ran away with a 1-0 win.
Argentina’s Emi Martinez saves Kolo Muani’s last attempt in extra time in the 2022 World Cup final. (AP)
Ask Yerry Mina of Columbia, who was harassed Martinez in the Copa America penalty shootout the same year. “I know where you’ll shoot. I’m eating you up brother,” he’d shout before keeping out Mina’s kick to his left.
Even the Dutch had been at the receiving end of Martinez’s penalty shootout skillset in the quarter-final. What chance did France’s younglings stand? Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele – all regular shootout protagons – had been subbed off. To accompany the fire breathing Kylian Mbappe, who’d already beaten Martinez twice on the night were Kingsley Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Muani.
Mbappe was off the cards with the inspired form he was carrying that night. But others were very much vulnerable. Take Tchouameni, 23, who looked lifeless to Martinez.

“Look at the boy’s face, tell me he’s not nervous. He was dead,” he’d pondered in the moment as the Real Madrid prodigy walked in to take his spot kick. “He was looking up at the sky, at the people.” And so began the mind games. Martinez would get a hold of the ball as Tchouameni walked in to take the penalty and threw it away, much to the frustration of the Frenchman. Few seconds would’ve passed as slowly for him.

Before, Coman’s penalty had already been saved Martinez. Another miss here and the French would be trailing two. And miss he did, leading to another one of Martinez’s spectacular celebrations. “I practiced it with my psycholog: if I saved one before, I would make life impossible for the next one. I would celebrate it like a goal.”
Imagine being Kolo Muani, who stood next in the queue to take the penalty. Knowing full well that even if he converted it, France’s fate wasn’t in their own hands. The Argentine with the gloves had snatched it away and Muani hated him for it. Probably all of France did.