Whether Lisandro Martinez will start for Argentina in the upcoming World Cup final against France remains to be seen, but the Manchester United man - depending on the scoreline - is expected to feature in some capacity. The formation that Lionel Scaloni has opted for in Qatar has, largely, seen the defender start from the bench, but with a battle against Kylian Mbappe to come, the South American side might choose to go with an additional centre-back.
Martinez has featured in five matches at the tournament in Qatar, but only two of his appearances have come as a starter. Scaloni has regularly changed his line-up and formation throughout the competition, and while the 24-year-old started the quarter-final triumph over the Netherlands, Nicolas Otamendi and Cristian Romero were preferred for the semi-final win against Croatia.
The centre-back has typically only started when the side plays with a back-three and has dropped out of the line-up when Argentina set up with a 4-3-3 formation. Regardless, Martinez has still recorded 301 minutes of action in the Middle East and has contributed throughout the tournament. He will be hoping to be included in the starting line-up for the clash against the reigning champions on Sunday, but even if he isn't, the former Ajax man will probably still get his chance off the bench.
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Having endured a difficult first few weeks in a United shirt after his summer arrival at Old Trafford, Martinez came under intense scrutiny - mainly for his height. The Reds were criticised for signing the player, with some pundits suggesting that he was not tall enough to succeed in the physically-demanding Premier League.
Martinez stands at 5ft 9in, which makes him the smallest centre-back in the English top flight. Despite the player impressing at Ajax under Erik ten Hag - scooping their Player of the Year award last term - he came under fire after struggling in United's opening two matches of the season, against Brighton and Brentford respectively.
However, it did not take the Argentine long to truly show his class. The 24-year-old was exceptional in the Reds' victory over Liverpool in August, but even after that performance - and several more impressive showings in the weeks that followed - Jamie Carragher once again expressed concerns about Martinez's height.
"I think he's a good player, I just wouldn't want a centre-back who is 5ft 9in in my team," Carragher told The Overlap. "I wouldn't.
"We'll see, it's only been four games, don't get carried away. For a defender to be 5ft 9in, and not just to play in the Premier League or any level of football, he's got to be a good player, because that is not normal.
"His passing is very good, he looks aggressive and he looks [like] a leader. He's obviously a good player, but to play at that level at 5ft 9in, I wouldn't want my team or to play with someone who’s 5ft 9in as a centre-back."
In similar fashion, Graeme Souness, who captained the Merseyside club during his time at Anfield, did not give Martinez much of a chance of succeeding in the Premier League, and when asked for his opinion on the defender following United's win against West Ham, he simply doubled down on his criticism.
"That worry, for me, is still there. If you watch at set-pieces, he still uses a blocker or they use him on the near post," Souness told talkSPORT. "He's not got the physique to take on the big guys and man-mark them, but he has brought aggression to them.
"There's a lot to like about him. I like his aggression. The first thing he did, when he played Liverpool, he's gone right through Mo Salah early on. For the rest of the game, Salah was looking for him. I love that and there's a lot to like about him.
"I just feel, when you're that size, you'll get caught. You'll get pinned in the box. I still don't think he's terribly quick. I don't think he's terribly good on the ball. But he's got something about him that makes other people play [well].
"He's got real aggression. 5ft 9in and he's playing against guys that are 6ft 2in, he'll get pinned occasionally and outsprinted occasionally. I can't tell you a centre-back, in my time in the English game, that's been super successful being that size."
While Martinez has already proven both Carragher and Souness wrong with his performances for United prior to the break for the World Cup - which saw him form a solid partnership with Frenchman Raphael Varane - the upcoming final in Qatar provides the centre-back with another opportunity to further show that their comments were wrong.
The Argentine previously hit back at those who criticised his early performances at Old Trafford, insisting that he does not pay any attention to his doubters, but rather that he backs himself to succeed because of the hard work he puts in every single day.
Martinez doesn't need to star for the South American side for them to be victorious against France, and he doesn't even need to prove anything to anyone. And yet, having already demonstrated that the criticism of him, and his height, was wrong, a World Cup triumph would be even more evidence against the incorrect verdict.
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