Emiliano Martinez was the hero of Argentina’s quarter final victory over the Netherlands, saving two Dutch penalties. Tomorrow, he hopes that along with rest of his teammates, he will be a hero again.
He will face perhaps his toughest opponent in the tournament in Kylian Mbappe, who has had a fantastic World Cup. He is vying with Martinez’s teammate Lionel Messi for the golden boot.
Martinez spoke of Mbappe in his pre-match press conference on Saturday, as per AS, where he said that he knows Mbappe’s quality.
“We were watching him because he was an opponent that we could face in the last 16. He is the current champion and he is not just a normal player. He is a great player, we’ll have to be vigilant. We know how good they (France) are, we’re going to try to play our game.”
Martinez also addressed comments Mbappe made in the past about South American football, in which the Argentine goalkeeper refused to be drawn into making any controversial statements.
“Mbappe said that the level of South America is lower than the European level because he did not play there. If you do not have the experience then it is difficult to comment, but nothing was wrong with what he said. They know we are a world class team and they respect us for that.”
