EMILIANO MARTINEZ recreated his X-rated World Cup celebration last night – leaving his wife red-faced before she eventually joined in.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper was outstanding in the World Cup final as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw in December.
He was awarded the individual accolade for being the best goalkeeper in Qatar and when he was handed the trophy, Martinez reacted in an unique way.
The 30-year-old shook hands with Fifa representatives, including Gianni Infantino, before holding the gold award in front of his privates while leaning back and pulling an odd face.
That led to a massively split reaction from fans and pundits, with Graeme Souness branding him a “vulgar clown”.
However, Thursday was the first time that Argentina had actually taken to the pitch since their World Cup win and the scenes were incredible at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
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As the Argentine national anthem rang out from the 80,000-plus crowd, fireworks soon began to light up the sky.
The whole place was then rocking as Lionel Messi and Cristian Romero stood there trying to take it all in.
But it all proved a little too much for Villa stopper Martinez.
He was spotted welling up as the supporters showed their appreciation prior to kick-off during the anthem.
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Despite the waterworks, Martinez did go on to keep a clean sheet as Argentina capped the night off with a victory – although they left it late against Panama.
Thiago Almada finally broke the deadlock with just 12 minutes remaining to get the crowd rocking once again.
And then in the dying seconds it was Messi’s turn to celebrate as he fired home his 800th career goal, and his 99th for Argentina, with a brilliant free-kick.
A special ceremony was then held after the game where each player received a replica World Cup trophy to lift on the pitch.
And it was during this party that Martinez, alongside several team-mates, reenacted his infamous celebration while his wife, Mandinha, covered her face with her hand.
However, she didn’t take much persuasion to copy her fella’s antics as she shared a snap of her and several other Argentina WAGs pulling the same stunt on the pitch.
The ex-Arsenal keeper became a national hero after a number of big saves in the final and went on to stop Kingsley Coman’s effort in the penalty shootout.
He also proved vital in Argentina’s quarter-final victory over Holland, saving two penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis.
Martinez also recorded the joint-most clean sheets in the competition with three, which capped a remarkable rise from having spells out on loan at Oxford United in 2012 and Rotherham in 2015 to World Cup glory.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
