Emiliano Martínez’s mind games: From childhood tricks to FIFA’s code for goalkeepers

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez already had a knack for irritating his opponents as a child.

At a young age, well before he became a World Cup champion with Argentina, Martínez had tricks to unsettle the attackers he faced in youth tournaments in Mar del Plata, a seaside resort south of Buenos Aires.

If he didn't feel like he was being tested enough, “Dibu” was capable of deliberately giving up rebounds so that opposing forwards would take more shots, Jorge Peta, one of his first coaches, revealed. Peta added: "He was already known for talking a lot.”

A national hero for his stunning save to deny Randal Kolo Muani a late goal in the final against France at Qatar 2022 and his sixth sense for saving penalties, Martinez' provocative temperament has deprived the star 'keeper of unanimous recognition from the soccer world.

Excessive celebrations and a strategy of distracting opponents before penalty kicks have earned him sanctions and resulted in FIFA enacting a code of conduct for goalkeepers in penalty shootouts.

While Argentine captain Lionel Messi considers Martínez “fundamental” for Argentina and “one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” he does have critics. Italian coach Fabio Capello and Edwin Van der Sar, the legendary former goalkeeper for Ajax and Manchester United, are among them. Emmanuel Petit, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, suggested the Aston Villa goalkeeper get help to control his emotions.

“What people think doesn’t affect me. They can have all their opinions, good or bad, but I know who I am, the kind of person I am,” Martínez, 33, responded to his detractors in an interview with ESPN in May 2025. “Off the field, I’m a dad, a husband, a son, but on the field, I just want to win, nothing else.”

He'll set to return to the big stage again with the Albiceleste at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which kicks off on June 11.

Martínez was relatively unknown to most fans until he was picked for Argentina.

Without ever playing in the Argentine first division, he left as a teenager for Arsenal, where he never established himself as the starting goalkeeper and was loaned out to lower-tier clubs including Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United, and Reading.

Despite his lack of playing time, Martínez was called up by Lionel Scaloni for the senior national team in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his debut in June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Chile. From then on, Argentina’s goal had a new owner.

“I am sorry, but I will stop you, bro,“ he told Colombian defender Davinson Sánchez before stopping the first of the three penalties he would save in the 2021 Copa América semifinal, which Argentina would later win.

Martínez’s psychological mastery of penalty kicks would have another chapter in the 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands in the World Cup quarterfinals, in a match that became known as “the Battle of Lusail” — named after the stadium in Qatar.

Utilizing his imposing height and distracting tricks, he made diving saves to Virgil van Dijk’s first penalty and then to Steven Berghuis' attempt. He celebrated with a dance that would later be imitated by Argentine children.

In the unforgettable final against France — Argentina led three times, and Kylian Mbappé scored a hat trick to force a penalty shootout — he stood like a wall, deflecting Kingsley Coman’s shot. When it was Aurélien Tchouaméni’s turn, Martínez tossed the ball away to delay the penalty kick. The current Real Madrid player lost the mental battle and shot wide.

His saves that night were noteworthy, as was his controversial gesture with the trophy for the tournament's best goalkeeper.

“I didn’t plan to come back sad (from the World Cup), that was my only goal,” he said in a 2023 interview with Argentina’s public television channel. “In my mind, I wouldn’t have accepted playing football if I had lost the final. I wouldn’t have been able to because of the pain.”

In the wake of the World Cup, FIFA implemented a code of conduct for goalkeepers. It prohibits psychological games, using tactics to delay a penalty kick, and speaking or gesturing to distract the kicker.

In 2024, FIFA suspended Martínez for two matches for offensive behavior and violations of fair play principles during the matches against Chile and Colombia in the South American World Cup qualifiers.

Despite the controversies, coach Scaloni has confirmed his goalkeeper for the upcoming World Cup, which he enters more firmly established as Aston Villa’s goalkeeper and fresh off winning the Europa League.

Martínez fractured the ring finger of his right hand in the final against Freiburg, but he will be available for the World Cup opener on June 16 against Algeria in Group J, which also includes Austria and Jordan.

“Everything else is part of his personality, and that’s that. We focus on the purely sporting aspect,” said the Argentine coach.

On the eve of the World Cup, Martínez’s No. 23 jersey is one of the most sought-after, along with Messi’s No. 10 10, proof of the following he has among Argentine fans.

The goalkeeper ignores his detractors and focuses on his legacy.

“The most important thing we take away from this is that Argentina will have many goalkeepers in the future," Martínez said. "The love for goalkeeping has returned.”

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup.

FILE - Argentina's Emiliano Martinez looks on during a training session for an upcoming World Cup qualifying soccer match against Chile, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, File)

FILE - Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez blocks a shot by France's Kingsley Coman during a penalty shootout in the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

FILE - Referee Szymon Marciniak, of Poland, shows a yellow card to Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez during the penalty shootout inthe World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

FILE - Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez blocks a shot by France's Kingsley Coman during a penalty shootout in the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

FILE - Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez celebrates after he saved a penalty kick during the penalty shootouts in the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek File)

Ukraine launched fresh strikes on Russian energy sites overnight into Sunday, Russian authorities and media reported, while Kyiv denied Russian claims that a Ukrainian drone struck a key Kremlin-occupied nuclear plant.

Drone debris set fire to a fuel storage facility in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, Gov. Yuriy Slyusar reported on Telegram on Sunday. He said residents of nearby homes were evacuated.

The drones also damaged civilian infrastructure in Saratov province, also in southwestern Russia, according to Gov. Roman Busargin. Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the regional capital, Saratov.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil and gas facilities in recent months, arguing the energy sector both funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

Meanwhile, Kyiv denied Russia’s claims that a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest in Ukraine and Europe.

Russian forces captured the plant in the early weeks of the war, and it remains close to the front lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of four Russia has formally annexed despite lacking full military control or international recognition for its actions.

Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, said on Saturday that the drone exploded after tearing a hole in the wall of a turbine hall. Rosatom’s CEO Alexei Likhachev accused Ukraine of a “deliberate” attack.

“This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a detonation,” Likhachev said. He added there was no damage to main equipment.

Ukraine’s military denied Russia's “yet another propaganda ploy," saying it did not strike or target the plant. The military said in a statement that it adheres to international humanitarian law and is aware of the "consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities.”

“Along the relevant section of the front line, there was no active fighting at the time of the incident, and no weapons were used,” it said.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, voiced “serious concern” following the incident in a post on X.

Ukraine’s state nuclear supervisory agency said the damage claimed by Russia must be verified by IAEA experts present at the Zaporizhzhia plant as part of a long-term monitoring mission.

The Zaporizhzhia plant has repeatedly come under fire since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, sparking fears of a nuclear accident. Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for targeting the plant on purpose.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that it had shot down 212 of 299 drones launched by Russia overnight. It said 14 drones had reached their targets, while drone debris fell in five locations.

Russian drones struck the city of Dnipro and an oil refinery in Ukraine’s Rivne region, causing fires, authorities said.

Oleksandr Koval, the head of Rivne’s regional administration, said no one had been injured at the refinery, and that emergency services were at the site.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Servicemen of Ukraine's defense intelligence set up the Peklo (Hell) missile drone against Russian in an undisclosed location in Ukraine late Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Servicemen of Ukraine's defense intelligence set up drones against Russian in an undisclosed location in Ukraine late Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)