For all the 'Argentina' chanting and flag-bearing from Manchester United supporters, some in the Stretford End waited to specifically berate a downtrodden Emiliano Martinez after the FA Cup third round win in January.
Only three months earlier, Martinez had snidely celebrated Bruno Fernandes's airborne penalty at that same end by goading the massed Reds. On an evening Steven Gerrard set a new record for 'You Scouse b-----d's, some had not forgotten Martinez.
Martinez is a flimsy 'keeper in open play but you do not want him staring at you from 12 yards. That ultimately decided an oscillating World Cup final.
Also read: United have solutions for possible sales
To those United supporters chided by Martinez, his antics at the World Cup came as no surprise. In the aftermath of Argentina's quarter-final shootout win over the Netherlands, a topless Martinez bragged to a Dutchman off camera he had "f----d you twice" and dubbed them puto - the male term for 'whore'.
In the final, he chucked the ball away from Aurelien Tchouameni as he approached the penalty spot. Tchouameni missed. Martinez danced a schadenfreude jig.
He received the Golden Glove and made a lewd gesture with the trophy. In the dressing room, Martinez was filmed pausing the Argentina conga to observe a "minute's silence for Mbappe".
An Aston Villa fan who carped Fernandes was a 'creep' for winning a penalty against Uruguay gushed about the 'beautiful' Martinez on Sunday. Martinez is as classless as Lionel Messi is class.
December 18 2022 will forever be remembered as Messi's zenith, the moment he truly emulated Diego Maradona. Argentina have won the Copa America and the World Cup since Maradona's passing in November 2020 and the sea of blue and white in Buenos Aires truly resembled crashing crests of a wave.
Messi's utopia should overshadow Argentina's charmlessness. Their derogatory behaviour towards Louis van Gaal, a legendary coach who recovered from prostate cancer to lead the Netherlands in Qatar, was as deplorable as their goalkeeper. The retired Sergio Aguero was a more shameless celebrator than John Terry.
Had the England manager described Argentina as "animals", as Alf Ramsey infamously did in 1966, these Argentinians would have taken it as a compliment. Their animalistic performance subdued France until Nicolas Otamendi's lapse in the 79th minute.
In a squad with three Martinezes, Manchester United have the best. Lisandro did not get on during the final and his absence was conspicuous. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had introduced Martinez against Australia and Croatia in the 50th minute and 62nd minute to protect 2-0 leads. There is only so long you can depend on the calamitous Otamendi and Kylian Mbappe struck twice in 91 scintillating seconds.
Otamendi nor Cristian Romero mustered a contribution as defensively decisive as Martinez's denial of the Australia left-back Aziz Behich at 2-1 in the last 16. That thwarted what would have been one of the great World Cup solo goals Martinez celebrated almost as jubilantly as he did Casemiro's equaliser at Chelsea.
A solid starter against Mexico, Martinez enabled the formation change to a back three against the Netherlands and was unfortunate to line up in two of Argentina's seven duels in the desert. He is not five months into his United career and will forever be remembered as their fifth World Cup winner after Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, John Connelly and Paul Pogba.
Already a cult hero in Manchester, Martinez embodies sportsmanship many of his countrymen lack. Angel di Maria, about as popular as Emiliano Martinez in M16, had the grace to console every France player and there were conciliatory reunions between the Atletico Madrid contingent.
Raphael Varane is idolised by Martinez and he courteously consoled the warhorse after he collapsed to the turf in the 113th minute. Varane recovered from an ankle injury to play at his third World Cup and overcame illness to start his second final.
The footage of Varane and Martinez's embrace at full-time encapsulated the best of sport, like Bobby Moore and Pele, Lothar Matthäus with Chris Waddle or Andrew Flintoff and Brett Lee.
It was not a final played in the best of spirits as Argentina pulled every trick in the book. One Martinez didn't, though.
READ MORE:
