Lionel Messi labelled Argentina World Cup hero Emiliano Martinez ‘the beast’ as he looks ahead to the defence of their title next summer.
Argentina beat France to win the last World Cup in December 2022 in one of the great finals of the sport’s biggest event.
At 2-0 ahead with 10 minutes to play, Argentina looked to be cruising to victory, but a quickfire Kylian Mbappe double took the game to extra-time.
There the Argentinians went back ahead, with Messi scoring his second of the game, only for a second Mbappe penalty to equalise again.
The final went to a shootout, only after Martinez had made crucial saves late in the game.
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The Aston Villa goalkeeper was the hero again from the spot, saving Kingsley Coman’s penalty, while Argentina netted all four of their spot-kicks.
Messi feels his team were a little lucky to get over the line in the end, but thanked the man known as ‘Dibu’ for his enormous contribution.
‘A World Cup is very difficult,’ Messi told ESPN. ‘Any team can give you trouble, can knock you out. The ball can hit the post and go in or out, you can lose on penalties.
‘In the last one, we were lucky that, even though we were the better team in both the Netherlands and France, we had to go to penalties, and there we had the beast that was Dibu who made us win. But you can get to penalties and not win. A World Cup is very difficult.
He added: ‘This group is going to try again, they’re going to give it their all and fight. Then, due to small details, you might be eliminated.’
Messi didn’t quite confirm that he would be playing in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer, but said he would like to be involved.
‘I hope I can be there. I’ve said before that I’d love to be there,’ said the 38-year-old. ‘At worst, I’ll be there watching it live, but it will be special.’
Martinez has also been talking up next year’s tournament, for which the draw is being made on Friday.
‘Most of us who have played in a World Cup have the butterflies in their stomach, a feeling that is difficult to explain, but I’m more excited about this one than the previous one,’ said the goalkeeper.
‘Winning individual titles or titles with my club is like the icing on the cake, but the real highlight of my entire career has always been playing for the Argentina national team.
‘When I play for the national team, I feel like the ball just won’t go in. I have the whole country and my family behind me.’