Martinez gets a hero’s welcome

Emiliano Martinez, the star player and goalkeeper of World Cup-winning team Argentina, was greeted by a huge crowd estimated at his home town, Mar de Plata.

Martinez showed the crowd in front of the beach on Thursday his trophy as goalkeeper of the tournament and told them it was ‘not only for me but for all the kids, the little goalkeepers, who dream of going for the fourth star.’

‘This is a beautiful thing, that a goalkeeper gets this recognition, because this is almost always given to strikers,’ said Martinez.

‘On penalties I become strong and I know that people respect me, I know because opposing players have told me so,’ he said.

Martinez defended his strategy of trying to disconcert penalty takers.

‘When you take the first penalty in a world final, you know the other guy is going to be very nervous,’ he said. ‘I try to play them, to push the ball away a little bit, to talk to them.’