Back to the Aston Villa Newsfeed

World Cup 2022: Emiliano Martinez's penalty shootout mind games help Argentina to victory

All the talk before Sunday's incredible World Cup final between Argentina and France was understandably about Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, but by the end, another name was on everyone's lips - Emi Martinez.

After an enthralling, twisting, turning and emotionally-draining 120 minutes and the game level at 3-3, penalties were needed to determine who would lift football's greatest prize.

While Argentina's takers did their job by calmly converting all four of their spot-kicks, Martinez stepped up to break French hearts.

Mbappe had scored two penalties in the game so there was little surprise he converted France's first of the shootout, although Martinez was not far off getting a hand to it.