Emiliano Martinez has revealed there is a siege mentality in the dressing room where it is Argentina against the rest of the world.
Aston Villa keeper Martinez says they have felt the strength of a whole nation behind them but insists that everyone else has wanted them to lose at this World Cup.
Martinez says they were shocked by how people “doubted” them after they lost to Saudi Arabia in their opening game and he says the rest of the world wanted them to lose their next game to Mexico and go out.
But they fought their way back from the brink and are now in the final with the Argentina fans always the loudest and most colourful in stadiums.
Argentina No1 Martinez said: “We feel the crowd on the streets every time we play, we feel like we are at home. We are so happy to have them. I can’t believe we lost the first game all of sudden everything was upside down and we lost the 36-game unbeaten run.
“Mexico the first half was a bit sloppy, everyone wanted us to lose, everyone wanted us to lose. We’re all fighters and we’ve got 45 million Argentineans all behind us. There’s 40,000, 50,000 Argentinians in every ground. We’re so happy to have them.”
Martinez has been a hero for Argentina through the tournament, his penalty heroics against Holland and also his last gasp stops against Australia.
But Lionel Messi is stealing the show with his brilliant displays dragging Argentina to the World Cup final and the chance to write the final chapter of his incredible career. Messi appeared to be struggling at times against Croatia but Martinez played down any suggestion their captain was injured.
Martinez added: “No, no, obviously we played 120 minutes against Holland. It was a hard game for him, but you can see he wants to finish every game.
"Physically he’s really good and you can see, man of the match every game.”
