Lautaro Martínez was rewarded in Bahía Blanca and revealed a decisive substitution before the decisive penalty against the Netherlands

Dibu Martínez had it in Mar del Plata, Julián Álvarez in Calchín and Alexis Mac Allister in La Pampa. Now it was the turn of another of the heroes of Qatar 2022: Lautaro Martínez, who was honored before a crowd in his hometown of White Bay after becoming world champion with the Argentina national team.

Scaloneta’s attacker was warmly welcomed this Friday afternoon at the Municipal Theater of Bahiawhere hundreds of fans waited for him to celebrate obtaining the Cup that the Albiceleste won after 36 years.

The ‘Bull’, as he is nicknamed, arrived near the site by car and was received by the local authorities who congratulated him on the title and declared him illustrious citizen for their successes.

After a press conference he gave to local media inside the building, On the 22nd Lionel Scaloni went out onto the balcony overlooking the Plaza Rivadavia and celebrated with everyone present.

I hope you are enjoying it as much as I did. bringing home the Cup after 36 years is a source of pride. We are world champions, damn it!” he told them.

“Let’s Go Champion” Y “Boys” They were the most shouted songs during the afternoon. But Martínez also joined the fans as they decided to sing the national anthem, which the forward sang along while hopping around with microphone in hand.

In the press conference he gave minutes earlier, he spoke about his time at the World Cup, his relationship with Lionel Messi and his happiness after beating France in the final last Sunday. Furthermore, he talked about his relationship with Julián Álvarez, the player who took his place in the middle of the tournament.

“They are incredible, unique sensations, moments that I dreamed of experiencing and realizing, and without a doubt, after 36 years, bringing the Cup home was the dream of every boy and every Argentine. With all that it cost, everyone must celebrate the day at table of Argentines,” he told the local press.

When asked about his series-defining goal in the shoot-out against the Netherlands and which sealed the selection’s progress to the semi-finals, he revealed: “I had decided to kick the other way. Later, when the referee blew his whistle and I took the race, ”I decided to stop. I saw the goalkeeper move a second earlier and decided to change my stick.”

“Luckily he played on the other side and the penalty went inside. The happiness is double, we managed to sign the pass for the semifinal. Then, the march, the game of the Dutch who tries to talk to me, those are questions of the game. Sometimes we play with that too. At that time you have to be calm and calm,” he noted.

Then he referred to the Albiceleste captain: “We knew what the World Cup meant for Leo and, honestly, what it generates for us, inside the dressing room and in the world of football; I think we all wanted Argentina to win the World Cup for him. .” .

And he added in this regard: “I think that in part we also gave him an extra gear to achieve that goal, the one he wanted so much. In that embrace (with Messi) there were words of gratitude for how he lived and guided each of us from within to achieve this,” he said.

Although Lautaro Martínez is one of the essential players of the Argentina national team, during his stay in Qatar, DT Lionel Scaloni opted for another figure in his place: Julián Álvarez, who managed to start most of the games, distinguishing himself as one of the tournament’s top scorer- and with whom the Bahian man embraced after the match against Croatia in the semifinals.

“That’s where the message we wanted to get across lies. That the strength of the group is above the individual. And as I said before, I couldn’t make it all the way to the World Cup with my ankle, I had been in a lot of pain for ‘A month and I had to infiltrate. It was his turn to come in and he did as we all wanted, giving an incredible hand. That hug we gave each other after beating Croatia was one of happiness, we were in a World Cup final,” explained Lautaro.