Emiliano Martinez provides reason for Argentina’s success at World Cup

Emiliano Martinez has said that the Argentina supporters in Qatar have made a huge difference for the nation in their run to the final.

Argentina overcame Croatia in the semi-final on Tuesday evening, with a brace from Julian Alvarez and a penalty kick from Lionel Messi proving to be the difference between the sides.

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Speaking to beIN Sports after the win, the Aston Villa goalkeeper said: “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. We lost the first game, all of a sudden everything was upside down, people doubting us because obviously we lost our unbeaten run of 36 games.

“Against Mexico, we were a little bit sloppy in the first half. Everyone wanted us to lose so it’s us against the rest of the world.

“I’m so glad this group of 26 players are all fighters and we have 45 million Argentinians all behind us. We feel the crowd, the streets are full of Argentinians and every time we play we are at home. There’s always 40 or 50,000 Argentinians in every ground and we’re so happy to have them.”

When asked about Lionel Messi’s fitness and if there were any concerns after the forward was seen holding his hamstring, Martinez replied: “No, no. We played 120 minutes against Holland and it was a hard game for him but as you can see he wants to finish every game. Physically he’s really good and he’s getting man of the match in every game.”