El Dibu Martínez expressed his discontent with the national team’s rivals in friendlies: “We need a world-class team”

Less than three months before the start of America’s Cupthe archer Emiliano Martinez considering that it would have been valuable for the Argentine team to face a top-level rival in the last FIFA event, in which the national team faced El Salvador and Costa Ricaand he said he was more enthusiastic about the edition of the continental competition to be held starting June 20 in the United States than about the one led by the team Lionel Scaloni won in 2021 in Brazil.

“It is not disrespectful to El Salvador, but I would have liked to play with a world-class team. We need a big game in Europe with England, Spain or whoever. But hey, it is what it is, we had to play with them and we played to the death. It’s the same whether it’s El Salvador, Brazil in Maracaná or France in Lusail. We play the same way, we are 3-0 and we want to score more.”the goalkeeper said in an interview with DSports Radio.

The victories against the Salvadorans and Costa Ricans were the first of 2024 for the Argentine team, which will face Ecuador (June 9 in Chicago) and with Guatemala (June 14 in Washington) in view of the Copa América, the most important objective that the team will face this year. Albiceleste. In this regard, Martínez defined how “a mini-World Cup” that tournament and stated that he and his teammates took it “as something very serious.”

“There are guys who haven’t played the Copa América (2021), like Enzo (Fernández) or Julián (Álvarez), who have played very little. There are guys who are still hungry to win something. And we won the Copa América anyway, but without people, in the final alone there were 10,000 people. So we’re all excited. We need to keep the bar high. I always take it as a challenge. “I’m more excited about this Copa América than the one I played in,” said the man from Mar del Plata.

The Aston Villa footballer started the match against El Salvador and kept a clean sheet for the 27th time since making his debut for the national team on 4 June 2021, in a match against Chile in Santiago del Estero for the Qatar qualifiers 2022. In his 37 appearances for the national team, he has only received 15 goals. His performances made him an immovable member of the Scaloni structure. However, the goalkeeper made it clear that he did not have guaranteed ownership.

To justify it he resorted to cases such as those of Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso. “Lea and Gio had played the whole Copa América, the whole Scaloni trial and at the World Cup they ended up playing against Enzo and (Alexis) MacAllister. I can’t relax, Ota (Nicolás Otamendi) can’t relax because he has Licha Martínez, he has (German) Pezzella; not even Cuti (Romero). And this is the beauty of this national team, that even though we win everything, if you don’t make an effort they will eat you from behind.”held.

Drawing He also remembered the now legendary save against the Frenchman Randal Kolo Muani in the World Cup final and reiterated that it was not the most complicated surgery he had performed in that competition. “The most difficult, the one that gave me the most confidence, was the free kick save against Mexico. It was my first save at the World Cup, at a time when we were 0-0, playing badly. The fact that the goalkeeper takes it and we can come out in the game gives confidence to the defense. With Arabia there had been two shots and two goals. I was angry because I had arrived without losing and in my first match at the World Cup they hit me two out of two, I wanted to kill myself”he recalled.

He also recalled a conversation he had after the World Cup with his colleague and teammate Franco Armani: “He grabbed me alone and said: “You deserve it because you are a good boy”. “She almost made me cry.” And he appreciated the importance of the good bond that he maintains both with the River player and with the other goalkeepers who have played for the team in recent years.

“Sometimes Franco plays, in the Copa América he played a match and I was happy. A goalkeeper wants to play all the matches, he is selfish, but if tomorrow he has to save Walter (Benítez), I will be happy and I don’t want them to score goals. When Juan Musso played a match against Bolivia in the Qualifiers because I was suspended, I told him: “Enjoy it, it’s beautiful, it will last a lifetime”. I believe that that union that exists in the Arc is the most beautiful thing there is, but not only for now but also for the future,” she underlined.