Arsenal legend Ian Wright has slammed Emiliano Martinez for his "s***housery" in Argentina's World Cup final win over France and insisted he went too far.
Martinez pulled off a brilliant save from Randal Kolo Muani to help send the game to a penalty shootout. He then delivered a classic example of mindgames to get into the heads of the French players as they stepped up to take their penalties.
He threw the ball away, screamed and danced in an effort to put off the Les Bleus takers and succeeded in his mission. Both Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed for France, with Argentina scoring all of their spot-kicks to win the World Cup.
Wright though has now blasted Martinez for his actions and insisted that he had "crossed the line". He believes that the Argentine keeper did not display the correct sportsmanship, despite the high stakes.
"I look at Emi Martinez, remember the s***housery with Auba [Martinez tried to put off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang when he stepped up to take a penalty against Aston Villa in October 2021] and all that stuff he was doing at Arsenal," Wright told the Ringer's FC podcast.
"I was thinking this guy is going to go to another level of s***housery if this final goes to penalties. And he did. I like Emi but what he did in the penalty shootout crossed the line, in respect of sportsmanship. He crossed the line."
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Wright's comments mark somewhat of a U-turn from his views on Sunday, when he had hailed Martinez for his performance, particularly in saving from Muani and in the shootout.
"It does make the difference when you’re coming out against a goalkeeper who is imposing as Emi Martinez. Getting the ball, throwing it away, giving you a couple of seconds to think about where you’re going to put it," Wright told ITV.
“You mention Emi Martinez, I remember him being at Arsenal. It’s when Bernd Leno got injured. It was funny. He took his opportunity. Then he was saying ‘I want to be Argentina’s number one goalkeeper’.
"This is the reason why he wanted to do that. He has gone to Villa and done brilliantly. He has made himself Argentina’s number one. And he was in the perfect position doing what he does best, and that’s saving penalties.”
Martinez defended himself for his mindgames in the shootout and even insisted he should have said Kylian Mbappe's attempt in the spot-kick of the shootout.
"It's a moment that I always have to give to my teammates, they scored three goals against me and it hurt, but then I did everything right. It was a game of suffering, just two efforts against us and they drew level with us," he said.
"One thing we said was that it was our destiny to suffer, we got 3-2 ahead again, and then they gave another penalty against us. Then I did my thing, what I dreamed of, there could not be a World Cup that I have dreamed of so much.
"It is in this moment that I have to give my teammates peace of mind. I could have stopped it (Mbappe’s penalty) too, I dived badly. But then I did everything right. I have no words for it.
"I was calm during the penalty shootout and everything went as we wanted. All that I have dreamed of has been achieved. To my family, I came from a very humble place, I left when I was very young to England and I want to dedicate it to them."
