Lionel Messi, who has the third-most followers on Instagram in the world, used his platform to praise goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for his heroics in the penalty shootout.
For the first time since his side narrowly escaped Ecuador in the 2024 Copa America quarter-finals, Lionel Messi sent a public message of thanks to Emiliano Martinez’s penalty kick on Friday.
The diminutive attacker looked set to make another splash in the summer penalty shootout after hitting a Panenka shot against the crossbar, but another excellent save from the Aston Villa goalkeeper saw Argentina progress to the next round.
“Just one step away… We struggled a lot against a strong opponent,” Messi wrote on Instagram on Friday. “We’re in the semi-finals thanks to everyone’s hard work and we have the best goalkeeper in the world. Go Argentina!”
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Read more: Lionel Messi has Emiliano Martinez to thank for creating more magic for Argentina in the Copa America
Leading 1-0 going into added time, Argentina looked to have a much easier passing role en route to a place in the top four, but Ecuador’s Kevin Martinez’s header into the bottom left corner gave Argentina a well-deserved equalizer. La Tri outshot the defending champions 9-8 and had 49.3% of the ball possession. Copa America rules state that tournament matches must go to penalties immediately after the 90 minutes of regular time, and Martinez promptly saved Ecuador’s first penalty from Ángel Mena to cancel out the loss.
Martinez stretched out his left palm to block Alan Minda’s shot, then danced in celebration for the Argentine fans to help Argentina take a commanding lead in the next round. Both teams then converted five penalties, with Nicolas Otamendi smashing it into the bottom corner to seal a place in the semi-finals.
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“Dib is always there and in these moments he becomes great. We had a lot of trust in the shootout and before the game he even joked that he should calm down when it came to penalties,” Messi told reporters after the game. “He always has it in mind.”
It was the second time in an international tournament that Martinez caught the eye with a sensational penalty shootout performance in the 2022 World Cup final defeat to France. Martinez made a brilliant last-minute save from a penalty by France striker Randal Kolo Muani to allow the penalty, then forced Argentina into two penalty misses with brilliant reflexes and a confusing mind game of confidence.
“When it comes to penalties, the game is different,” Martinez told Goal. “It’s me, the striker and me [other] Goalkeepers. Some people don’t understand that, because they think that goalkeepers just have to stand on the goal line and dive. But the players can jump, they can speed off, they can celebrate in front of us, they can slide, they can dance. And we have to pick the ball up out of the goal net and throw it back to the goalkeeper? I don’t get it.”