Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez will return to action with FA Cup and Champions League on his mind
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Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa
Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa(Image: DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Emiliano Martinez has confirmed that he'd be retiring from international football, and not football in general, if he helps Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup in next summer's tournament.
Aston Villa number one Martinez suggested in December that he was ready to hang up his gloves if he was to help his country lift a second straight World Cup, having been successful in Qatar in the winter of 2022.
Speaking around the two-year anniversary of it, he said at the time: "Is there any national team that has won two World Cups in a row? If I become a two-time World Champion with the national team, I will retire. I promise you. I'm telling you today. I will retire after that World Cup. I just turned 32; by the time the World Cup comes around, I will be 33, a young lad."
That prompted questions over whether Martinez might actually retire from football on the spot if Argentina were to become only the third nation in football history after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) to win back-to-back titles.
"No, no, no - not from football, from the national team," Martinez told Bplay during this international break. “If we win two (World Cups) in a row, that’s it, I’m retiring from the national team. We have to make room for other young players. A third Copa America after? I like to have promises and keep them."
The master of penalty shoot-outs, Martinez - who significantly contributed in the final in 2022 - will return to France having repeated those qualities in Villa's Europa Conference League quarter final bout with Lille last year.
Villa play PSG over two legs at the beginning of next month in the quarter finals of the Champions League and Martinez is happy to take the attention off his teammates and allow them to concentrate fully on the task in hand, as he anticipates being spotlighted by the Parisian masses.
"At Villa, at home we are strong," he added. "We only lost one game all year but away from home it costs us a little more. The good thing is my team will have less pressure because the focus will be more on people insulting me, but it's something I have totally under control."
Martinez helped his country to lift their first World Cup in 36 years when they lifted the trophy at the expense of France two years ago. Martinez was in inspired form in the final, making a huge save to deny Randal Kolo Muani and keep the scores level at the very end of extra time, before helping out in the penalty shoot-out.
He has routinely scooped internationally recognised individual awards, too, winning the prestigious Yashin Trophy two years in a row. Martinez was also voted FIFA's Best Goalkeeper in 2022 and 2024 and the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper this year, too.
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