Emi Martinez makes cheeky gesture with his Golden Glove award

Emiliano Martinez of Argentina is presented the adidas Golden Glove by Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, during the award ceremony following the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar.
(Image credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Emiliano Martinez is officially the best goalkeeper at World Cup 2022 – but still has time to show his mad side.

The goalkeeper is known for his theatrics during penalty shootouts and upon receiving the award for the best custodian in Qatar, he held his Golden Glove trophy to his crotch.

The moment was captured on camera with Gary Lineker making an offhand comment about it before moving on swiftly. 

Emiliano Martinez with his Golden Glove award

Emiliano Martinez with his Golden Glove award (Image credit: BBC Sport)

Argentina were much the better team for almost 80 minutes of the match, starting on top, dominating the ball and getting the breakthrough on 23 minutes after a controversial penalty was awarded for a foul on Angel Di Maria. Naturally, Lionel Messi – who all the talk was about before the game – stepped up to slot home from 12 yards

Di Maria was at the heart of everything for the second goal, too, capping off a beautiful team move. The Juventus star, returning to the line-up after struggling with injury throughout the tournament, converted to put the Albiceleste into what looked like an unassailable lead. Didier Deschamps reacted bravely, making a double substitution before half-time, as he took off Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele for Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram. 

The game looked to be over, with France looking particularly lacklustre until Kylian Mbappe stepped up to change proceedings. Nicolas Otamendi gave a penalty away, bringing down Kolo Muani, giving the PSG forward the opportunity to convert and join an elite club of players to score in multiple finals. Less than 90 seconds later, it was Mbappe at the double – swinging towards the ball in a scissoring motion to put Les Bleus level. 

The game went to extra time, though – and five minutes from the conclusion of the match, Messi scored what he thought was going to be the winner. Then, Mbappe stepped up for a third time to score yet again, taking the game to penalties. 

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.