Lionel Messi claims Argentina have an 'advantage' in penalty shootouts because of Emi Martinez after their Copa America Q/F win
Lionel Messi claimed that Argentina enter every penalty shootout with an advantage as they have goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on their side. Messi's comments come after Argentina's 4-2 shootout win over Ecuador in the Copa America quarterfinal.
He said that Martinez was confident of saving penalties even before the game, and even joked about it. Speaking to the media after the win over Ecuador, Messi said (via AlbicelesteTalk):
"Before the match, he was joking about the possibility of penalties and said he was going to save them. When we reach this stage, we have an advantage."
Notably, Lionel Messi missed his penalty in the shootout as his panenka effort hit the crossbar and bounced out. However, his teammates maintained a 100% record while Martinez saved two from Ecuador to get them a 4-2 win in the shootout.
The match had previously finished 1-1 after extra time, with Lisandro Martinez scoring for Argentina while Kevin Rodriguez equalized for Ecuador in injury time.
Argentina teammate ready to die for Lionel Messi
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had previously claimed that he was ready to do anything on the pitch for Lionel Messi. His comments came after a shootout win over Colombia in the Copa America semifinal in 2021. He had said (via Tribuna):
"I was speechless when I saw it. These are sentences or pictures that you keep for the rest of your life. Or to have it framed that I’m hugging him. Same thing in the semis, when he came to hug me, same as the interview or what he put on Instagram, it gave me strength to make saves in the final and be even better. It gives me strength."
"Him putting a photo with the caption 'he's a beast', how can I not perform in the final? I want to give him life, I want to die for him. I said it four or five months ago, I said I prefer that he wins the Copa America before I do. And it’s true.
"Just like every Argentine. The Brazilians, for me, wanted Argentina to win the Copa just because of Messi. And an Argentine isn’t going to want Messi to win it? It (winning Copa America) happened and hopefully we can give him the World Cup," he added.
Lionel Messi has played 37 matches with Emiliano Martinez for the national side. They have lost just two of those matches – once in the group stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Saudi Arabia and once during a World Cup qualifiers game against Uruguay.