Emiliano Martinez revelled in Kylian Mbappe's despair during Argentina's celebrations after the World Cup final - less than an hour after comforting the France superstar on the pitch.
Martinez was once again the hero for Lionel Scaloni's side after starring in a tense penalty shootout at the Lusail Stadium. Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria fired Argentina into the lead before France hit back through Mbappe. Messi restored Argentina's advantage in extra-time, but Mbappe completed a remarkable hat-trick by cooly converting a penalty in the 118th minute.
Mbappe and Messi both scored in the subsequent shootout before Martinez thwarted Kingsley Coman and distracted Aurelien Tchouameni to leave Argentina on the cusp of a historic win. But Martinez made a beeline for Mbappe after Gonzalo Montiel plundered the winning penalty for Argentina.
Martinez won plenty of plaudits after breaking away from his celebrations to console the distraught Paris Saint-Germain star, who made history by becoming just the second player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final after Geoff Hurst.
But a clip now circulating on social media has shown Martinez poking fun at Mbappe during the raucous celebrations in the Argentina dressing room. The Aston Villa shot-stopper, 30, can be seen dancing and singing with his teammates before asking for a moment of silence for Mbappe.
The celebrations came shortly after Martinez was awarded with the coveted Golden Glove award just before Argentina were officially presented with the World Cup trophy.
Martinez's heroics in Sunday's showpiece final came just over a week after he produced a similar performance to thwart Netherlands in another penalty shootout in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Join the debate! What did you make of Sunday's epic World Cup final between Argentina and France? Let us know here.
And he was showered with praise after shutting out France by several pundits who commended the former Arsenal man for deploying the mischievous mind games that wreaked havoc on Les Bleus' penalty takers.
Ian Wright led the adulation for Martinez, who he claimed made all the difference for Scaloni's side - both during and prior to the shootout. He told ITV Sport: "It does make the difference when you’re coming out against a goalkeeper who is imposing as Emi Martinez. Getting the ball, throwing it away, giving you a couple of seconds to think about where you’re going to put it."
Former England and Manchester United right-back Gary Neville added: "He always seems to guess the right way and it has to be perfect. What he makes you do is be too precise and that’s when it goes past the post.
"He was messing with the player’s heads and the referee should’ve stamped on it earlier. Well done to him, this Argentina team will do anything, anything, to win."
