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7 months ago
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French newspapers have bemoaned the return of the Emiliano Martinez after the Argentine goalkeeper inspired Aston Villa to a penalty shoot-out victory over Lille in the Europa Conference League.
Martinez he been branded as 'Public Enemy Number One' by French outlet Get French Football News ahead of the quarter-final match with his World Cup final antics still fresh in the mind.
The 31-year-old had been accused of 'dark arts' in the final by repeatedly grabbing the ball after penalties to waste time, as well as dancing after saving from Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman.
He then won the golden glove in the post-game presentation and angered fans with an X-rated gesture, but attracted further controversy by calling for a minute's silence of Kylian Mbappe and later holding aloft a baby doll with the striker's face on it.
History repeated itself on Thursday as Martinez saved two Lille penalties while being at the centre of controversy, with the goalkeeper shown a second yellow card during the shootout.
Emiliano Martinez was Aston Villa's hero during their penalty shootout victory over Lille
Argentine sports daily Ole declared Martinez a 'hero' and claimed the goalkeeper had silenced Lille supporters after being provoked by the home crowd
The Aston Villa goalkeeper made the front page of Argentina's largest newspaper Clarin, who wrote that Martinez was 'again the executioner of France'
Having saved from Nabil Bentaleb early on, Martinez put his finger to his lips to quieten the home fans, only for Leon Bailey to miss for Villa to level proceedings.
Martinez was then shown a second yellow card of the game by referee Ivan Kruzliak, but avoided a red due to a little known rule that all bookings are reset before shootouts.
He saved again from the spot from Benjamin Andre to guide Aston Villa into the semi-finals at the expense of another French side.
The goalkeeper's penalty antics were the focus again of French coverage, with L'Equipe declaring 'Provocation and decisive saves: Martinez, the return of the Argentine nightmare for LOSC'.
The newspaper stated that the 'image of an old nightmare suddenly came back to haunt an entire stadium'.
Get French Football News awarded Martinez their man of the match award, despite his pre-match billing, with the Aston Villa shot stopper receiving eight out of 10.
The outlet wrote that Martinez was 'a hero and a villain on the night', noting that he was 'one of the only players to receive two yellow cards and remain on the pitch'.
Argentine newspapers lauded Martinez's latest penalty heroics, with a picture of the 31-year-old silencing the Lille crowd the main image on the daily sport newspaper Ole.
L'Equipe wrote highlighted the 'return of the Argentine nightmare', referencing Martinez's previous penalty heroics against France in the World Cup final.
Get French Football News labelled Martinez as the 'hero and villain' on the night
Martinez had made enemies with French supporters for his antics in the World Cup final penalty shootout
Martinez was shown a second yellow card by Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak in the penalty shootout but remained on the pitch due to a little known rule
The Aston Villa goalkeeper saved Benjamin Andre's penalty to send his side into the last four
The newspaper led with the headline 'A second of silence', with Martinez actions defended amid claims he had been provoked by the home crowd.
Ole wrote that 'the French harassed the best goalkeeper in the world', adding that repeated his World Cup final feat by saving two spot kicks before dancing.
Martinez also made the front page of Argentina's largest newspaper Clarin, who dubbed the goalkeeper to be 'the executioner of France again'.
Clarin focused on Martinez silencing the crowd and his victory dance, as well as an image of one of his two penalty saves.
Martinez, who took delight in winding up the home crowd, defended his actions post-match.
'It's all about reputation because the other goalie was doing exactly the same thing (time wasting in normal play),' said Martinez. 'I got a yellow after 30 minutes and we were losing the game so I don't know what the ref wants from me.
'Then there was no ball on the penalty spot during the shoot out. I was asking for a ball from the ball boy and I get booked. I just don't understand the rules.'
He was punished for taunting the home fans having become public enemy No 1 with French supporters
The Argentina goalkeeper protested his innocence but was informed he would remain on the pitch
Martinez saved two penalties overall including the decisive kick to sent Aston Villa through
Lille president Olivier Letang slammed Martinez's attitude post-match after his penalty antics
Martinez, however, was condemned by Lille president Olivier Letang who slammed the Argentine's attitude.
'I don’t want us to spend time talking about this boy who has an attitude that is not that of a very high-level athlete,' Letang said, as reported by L'Equipe.
'Because in high-level sport, in victory or in defeat, you have to remain calm and elegant, so I prefer that we focus on ourselves and bring out all the positive aspects.'
Lille forward Jonathan David, who scored his penalty, and manager Paulo Fonseca opted against criticising Martinez after the quarter-final defeat.
'I would say that the goalkeeper likes to deconcentrate, we saw it on the first shot: he runs to get the ball. Normally, he should have gone to his goal,' David said.
'For him, I think it's a tactical game. For me, it's like a penalty that I take in a match.'
Fonseca added: 'He [Martinez] was decisive in both matches, the first and today.
'Last week, we had clear chances to win, he stopped them and today he was decisive on penalties. He's a great goalkeeper.'
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