It took an injury to set Emiliano Martinez on the path from being a perennial deputy to a World Cup winner. Another imperilled his chances of becoming the first goalkeeper since Gilmar in 1962 to start two World Cup final wins.
Martinez’s career seemed first to stall, then to accelerate at dizzying speed. Approaching his 28th birthday, he had played fewer than 100 senior games and had four different loan spells in the Championship. When Bernd Leno was injured against Brighton, however, he was propelled into the Arsenal team. A month later, he had won the FA Cup.
