Argentina national team goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez could be in hot water after the president of the French Football Federation confirmed Les Bleus have lodged a complaint over the shot-stopper's conduct.
In the days that have followed La Albiceleste's remarkable World Cup final triumph over France, Martinez has mocked France talisman Kylian Mbappe a number of times. The most notable example saw the Aston Villa 'keeper hold a toy baby with the Paris Saint-Germain forward's face taped on the front.
This comes after Martinez was filmed taunting Mbappe during Argentina's dressing room celebrations after the penalty shoot-out success, jokingly calling for a minutes silence on the Frenchman's behalf. This kind of behaviour has not gone unnoticed.
President of the France FA Noel Le Graet has told Ouest-France how he has reached out to his Argentine counterpart Claudio Tapia to make his feelings clear on the situation in formal fashion by writing a letter of complaint.
"I wrote to my counterpart from the Argentine Federation, I find these excesses abnormal, in the context of a sports competition, and I find it difficult to understand," he conceded. "This is going too far. Mbappé's behavior has been exemplary."
Tensions had been brewing between Mbappe and Martinez long-before kick-off after the former suggested European nations come into tournaments like the World Cup better prepared.
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Martinez was feisty in his reply, as he hit back: "He doesn't know enough about football. He never played in South America.
"When you don’t have this experience, it may be better not to talk about it. But it doesn't matter. We are a great team, recognised as such."
Ex-France international Adil Rami made his feelings on Martinez crystal clear when pressed for comment on his antics, dubbing him "the biggest son of a b**** in football" and "the most hated man."
Mbappe is yet to issue any kind of update or response to Martinez's goading, with the 24-year-old already back in training for PSG less than a week after defeat in the final, though just declaring how the French lost doesn't tell the full story.
The former Monaco man became just the second player in football history to net a hat-trick in the World Cup final, netting two penalties either side of a stunning volley that levelled things up for his country who had found themselves 2-0 down less than 5 minutes prior.
Despite putting the ball beyond Martinez four times if you include the shoot-out, it wasn't to be for Mbappe and he'll have to wait until 2026 to try and add a second World Cup to his honours list.
