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Emi Martínez is the master when it comes to saving penalties.
He has repeatedly rescued his team from difficult situations, most recently when their match with Ecuador in the Copa América quarter-final went to spot kicks, and captain Lionel Messi missed his first effort for the Argentines.
That was the cue for Martínez to save two penalties and send Argentina through to another semi-final.
It is not by accident that he does it repeatedly for club and country. Instead, he works intensively on how to face opponents from 12 yards and is never afraid to resort to gamesmanship to put them off.
And yet this is a goalkeeper who spent nine seasons with Arsenal, barely played for the first team, and did not make his full international debut until three years ago.
Although goalkeepers tend to develop later than players in other positions, it took Martínez a long time to reach the top.
Having started in the Independiente youth team, he was invited by Premier League Arsenal for a trial and subsequently signed for the Gunners.
However, he spent the majority of his eight years at the Emirates on loan, dropping down the leagues to play for Oxford United, Rotherham United, and Reading. He also had a spell in Spain with Getafe.
His breakthrough came in 2020 when an injury to regular first-team keeper Bernd Leno allowed him to make his first Premier League appearance in four years.
He did well enough to keep his place and became an integral part of the side that reached and won the FA Cup that year, making several crucial saves in the final itself.
Unfortunately, few Arsenal fans got the chance to see him in person. That coincided with the COVID era when all matches were played behind closed doors.
When it was made clear to Martínez that Leno would return as the number one under Mikel Arteta, the Argentine left the club and signed for Aston Villa instead, for whom he has already made 159 appearances.
Although Martínez received his first international call-up in 2011, he did not play for his country in an actual match before debuting in a draw with Chile in June 2021.
He has since established himself as the undisputed number one between the sticks for his country and has already won 44 caps. At the age of 31—young in goalkeeping terms—he has several more years at the top level to look forward to if he can maintain his fitness and performance level.
However, it is when it comes to penalties that Martínez has made his name.
In the four penalty shoot-outs he has participated in for Argentina, various opponents have only scored 12 from 24 attempts, which is a 50% conversion rate. Martínez saved nine of them, whilst the other three were missed.
To put that into context, in 2021, 83% of penalties were converted across all major leagues, the goalkeeper saved 12%, and 3% missed the target.
This is no accident. Martínez is never afraid to use psychological tactics and gamesmanship to distract penalty takers and introduce an element of doubt in their minds.
It has prompted accusations of a lack of sportsmanship against him, and it has also been suggested that it could even prompt a change in the rules to outlaw some of the intimidatory tactics he uses. Martínez has always been unrepentant, arguing that his methods work.
Martínez first successfully adopted his tactics in the 2021 Copa América semi-final with Colombia. He saved three Colombian penalties, enabling Argentina to reach the final, which they subsequently won.
It was the following year, though, at the World Cup, which made his name.
After their quarter-final with the Netherlands went to penalties, Martínez displayed his full array of tricks during the shoot-out. He faked to give the ball to Steven Bergwijn before dropping it at his feet, forcing him to pick it up. Toon Koopmeiners was stared down before his effort, whilst Luuk de Jong was forced to recover the ball from the centre circle because Martínez had kicked it there.
Bergwijn and Virgil van Dijk saw both their efforts saved by Martínez as Argentina progressed to the semi-finals.
Arguably, his finest performance came in the World Cup final itself. The match had finished 3 – 3 after extra time, which gave Martínez to take centre stage, a role he relished.
Before Kylian Mbappé and Kingsley Coman took their efforts, Martínez asked the referee to check whether the ball was definitely on the spot. Whilst Mbappé scored his kick, Coman’s was saved by the Argentine.
Before Aurelien Tchouaméni could take his kick, Martínez repeated his trick of throwing the ball to one side, forcing the midfielder to have to go and collect it. Again it worked because Tchouaméni then screwed his effort wide.
He was not finished yet. The next penalty taker for France was Randall Kolo Muani, whom Martínez shouted and gesticulated at several times during his run-up. He did get a yellow card for his efforts, and Muani did convert his penalty, but Argentina won the shoot-out and the World Cup.
Hugo Lloris, his opposite number that day, was highly critical of Martínez’s conduct, arguing that he was not prepared to make a fool of himself in that way and that he was too rational and honest a man to follow his example.
Martínez and Argentina did not care a jot. They took home the World Cup, and Martínez was given the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper in the tournament. Subsequently, FIFA named him the world’s number-one goalkeeper.
Martínez’s antics have not just been confined to Argentina, as Aston Villa supporters can testify.
Earlier this year, the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Lille in Northern France went to another penalty shootout. The home fans had not forgiven him for his behaviour during the World Cup final and jeered him throughout the match.
When it came to the penalty shootout, Martínez blocked a shot from Nabil Bentaleb but was then booked for theatrically gesturing to the opposing fans to shut up.
(He had already been shown a yellow card, but a quirk of the rules meant he was not sent off).
Aston Villa would eventually win 4 – 3, with Martínez saving the last penalty of the match.
Arguably, though, karma caught up with him on this occasion. He was suspended for the first leg of the semi-final, and without him, Villa shipped four goals at home to Greek side Olympiacos and eventually lost.
After saving two penalties in their Copa América, Martínez showed that he had not lost his competitive spirit by taunting the Ecuadorian fans after the game.
Next up is Colombia in the final, and with no extra time being played in the Copa América this year, there is every chance that could go to penalties as well.
If it does so, then the Colombians need to be fully prepared for what Martínez will do.
They will need not only an excellent technique from 12 yards but also nerves of steel to withstand the psychological pressure he will apply.
