Emiliano Martínez was crowned world champion with Argentina during the final of the World Cup in Qatar yesterday. The keeper played an important part in the victory by stopping a penalty from Kingsley Coman in the penalty shootout. Prior to the World Cup ceremony, Martínez was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament by FIFA. The keeper received his prize and celebrated the election in a bizarre way.
Hahahahaha give them Emiliano Martinez! Give them!!!! pic.twitter.com/4HkleAoVUH
— Ölele | Deep Throat Sauce🦅🎙🇬🇭 (@OleleSalvador) December 18, 2022
Martínez is a person who pushes the boundaries. Typically someone you love for his bizarre actions or that makes you hate him: there seems to be no middle ground. He has a knack for challenging and annoying his opponents. For example, he is known to cheer exuberantly when stopping a penalty kick or to celebrate his save with a strange dance. He showed that again yesterday after he stopped Coman’s penalty kick.
The Argentinians finally won the penalty shootout 4-2, so that Martínez, as before in this tournament, turned out to be one of the team’s strongholds. FIFA, therefore, chose to reward the goalkeeper for his performance and declare him goalkeeper of the tournament.
During the ceremony, the closing post walked on stage to receive his prize, a golden glove. While still on the podium in front of Qatari presidents, he celebrated his election by holding the prize in front of his genitals. The bizarre action generated many surprised reactions on social media, with some even joking that his teammates will not see him again because of his disrespect for Qatari rulers.
rip emiliano martinez you will be missed 🕊 pic.twitter.com/ilkUJp3ixB
— ꧁ 𓆩♡𓆪 ꧂ 🦑🇦🇷🇧🇷 (@_sheitan) December 18, 2022
It was not the first time yesterday that Martínez played an important role in a victory for the Argentines. For example, many will remember the match against the Orange, in which he also stood out by stopping penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis. Even after that match, Martínez let himself go and celebrated the victory in an unsportsmanlike manner in front of the selection and technical staff of the Dutch national team.
Argentina defeated France yesterday in an insane match, which some have called the greatest World Cup final ever. Three goals from Kylian Mbappé could not prevent the Argentines from winning the World Cup. Lionel Messi finally fulfilled his dream of leading his country to the coveted title, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona.
WORLD CUP FOOTBALL IN QATAR
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is very controversial. First of all, an investigation by the American FBI showed that Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010 through bribery. In addition, during the preparations for the tournament, such as the construction of stadiums and other facilities, human rights have been violated in recent years and at least 6,500 migrant workers have died. They came mainly from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and had to work in unsafe working conditions and extreme heat, Amnesty International said in a report. The government in Qatar has almost never done a proper investigation into the deaths and FIFA would have looked away, according to the human rights organization.
SPORTS WASHING
According to human rights organizations, Qatar is guilty of sportwashing: using a major tournament to put a country in a good light, while concealing misconduct and human rights violations. In addition to the death of the migrant workers, the ban on homosexuality is also something that many believe makes Qatar an unsuitable host country. For example, Human Rights Watch released a report a few weeks before the World Cup that shows that LGBT people have been arbitrarily arrested and abused in the country without charge over the past three years.
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