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Emiliano Martinez performs lewd trophy gesture after Argentina’s World Cup win
Emiliano Martinez shocked World Cup fans when he celebrated his Golden Glove award with a lewd gesture in front of billions of global TV viewers.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper held the trophy, a giant gold-plated hand, to his groin and waved it about at the post-match ceremony at the Lusail Stadium in Doha.
Martinez had been the hero of Argentina’s penalty shootout win, saving one spot-kick from Kingsley Coman and watching Aurelien Tchouameni hit another wide, and went on to win the best goalkeeper award.
Yet those achievements are now likely to be overshadowed by his decision to mark the moment with the X-rated gesture on the podium before Argentina collected the trophy, with BBC pundit Gary Lineker heard saying on commentary: ‘No! Don’t do that, Emi.”
Martinez starred in the Argentina’s march to World Cup glory, capturing the attention of the world by dancing at penalty shootouts. He also proved to be a master of the dark arts of his craft, throwing the ball away before Tchouameni’s spot-kick instead of rolling it to the France midfielder. Tchouameni was forced to retrieve the ball and went on to drag his high-pressure kick wide.
Martinez flew the flag for Aston Villa at the tournament, becoming the first player from the club to play in a World Cup final and, now, win football’s biggest prize.
Questions will now be asked though as to what went through his mind at the end-of-match ceremony.
Lionel Messi, who scored twice in an epic final that finished 3-3 in normal time, collected an award for the player of the tournament following the eyebrow-raising gesture.
Kylian Mbappe, his rival for the Balon d’Or and title of world’s best player, won the Golden Boot, awarded for the tournament’s highest scorer, for his eight goals. Three of those came on Sunday, when Mbappe became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Unlike Hurst, however, Mbappe ended up on the losing side – a cruel twist for a player who had inspired a remarkable France comeback with two goals inside 80 seconds when his side had been trailing 2-0.
A third followed from the penalty spot in extra time after Messi had scored his second of the game to make it 3-2. Both players went on to find the net in the shootout but it was Martinez who had the final say – on the pitch and, unexpectedly, off it.
