Emi Martinez mocks Kylian Mbappe in Argentina dressing room after World Cup heroics

Will Ford 19 Dec 2022 7:03 AM

Emiliano Martinez led the mocking of Kylian Mbappe in the Argentina dressing room after the goakeeper’s heroics in the World Cup final.

Martinez saved Kingley Coman’s spot kick and successfully distracted Aurelien Tchouameni in the shootout, again proving to be the hero for Argentina as he was against the Netherlands in the quarter-final.

As Gonzalo Montiel slotted in the winning penalty, Martinez ran straight over to Mbappe, who was on the losing side despite being the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966 and netting in the shootout.

Martinez consoled the Paris Saint-Germain star on the pitch, but was videoed taking the p*ss out of the striker soon after.

The Argentina players were all seen dancing around the dressing room singing “a minute’s silence for” together, before leaving a gap for Martinez to shout: “for Mbappe who is dead!”

Ian Wright told ITV sport after the game that the Aston Villa stopper’s mind games were crucial for Argentina.

He said:”It does make the difference when you’re coming out against a goalkeeper who is imposing as Emi Martinez. Getting the ball, throwing it away, giving you a couple of seconds to think about where you’re going to put it.”

Gary Neville added: “He always seems to guess the right way and it has to be perfect. What he makes you do is be too precise and that’s when it goes past the post.

“He was messing with the player’s heads and the referee should’ve stamped on it earlier. Well done to him, this Argentina team will do anything, anything, to win.”

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni reflected on an “insane” game at his press conference in which he was applauded by the journalists and thanked in multiple questions.

“The match was completely insane,” Scaloni said.

“For me, as a coach, I know that we had a good match. We could have won it in the first 90 minutes. However, it wasn’t possible, I wasn’t lucky enough.

“We had a great performance in this match and what about my feelings? Well, I have the best feelings ever.

“It wasn’t in my plans. I didn’t envisage to be World Cup winners but now we are and the most important thing is how we achieved this.”

World Cup Emiliano Martinez