Emiliano Martinez helped Lionel Messi score his 800th goal of his career on Thursday. This can be seen in a video.
Messi scored his 800th goal during a friendly against Panama. He did it with a great free kick late in the second half.
A few minutes earlier, he hit the post with a set piece, which Thiago Almada took advantage of to score the first goal.
Argentina was back on the pitch for the first time since December, when they won the 2022 World Cup. It was a night of celebrations.
And Buenos Aires, the capital, is the best place to celebrate.
When the 11 players who started the World Cup final against France in Qatar walked out onto the pitch, it was an amazing sight.
And Messi’s late free kick goal, which was his 800th goal of his career, was the perfect way to end the night.
The six-time winner of the Ballon d’Or deserves a lot of credit for his perfectly placed shot, but it looks like goalkeeper Martinez also deserves some credit.
We all know that the keeper for Aston Villa is a master of the dark arts, especially when it comes to penalties.
But it looks like he has another trick.
Aston Villa beat Manchester United 3-1 at Villa Park in November.
Lucas Digne scored with a great free kick in the 11th minute. But Martinez seemed to set up Villa players in a way that blocked David de Gea, the keeper for United, from seeing the ball.
It worked like a charm.
And he did the same things again when Argentina beat Panama.
Messi was getting ready to take his free kick when Martinez told his Argentine teammates where to stand.
In reality, it probably didn’t matter if the Panama goalkeeper was blocked or not because the superstar from Paris Saint-free Germain’s kick was so good.
Emi Martinez’s part in Lionel Messi’s free kick against Panama is shown in this video.
What did Messi tell the fans when the game was over?
Messi gave a speech to the more than 80,000 Argentina fans inside the stadium as they celebrated winning the World Cup.
He said, “I want to thank everyone for the love they have shown us. Not only because they won the World Cup, but also because they won the Copa America. We said we would do everything we could to make this happen.
I’ve always hoped that this day would come. To be able to celebrate with you, to come to my country, Argentina, to lift a Copa America, the Finalissima, and the biggest one, which is the World Cup.
Today is our day to celebrate being champions, but I don’t want to forget all the teammates who were there before us and also did their best to win the cup. Who also did their best to make this happen, and the Copa America and the World Cup were very close.
They also gave their all for this shirt, so the Argentine people should be proud of them. I’d like to thank all my coaches in the past, who also did everything they could to help me.
“It didn’t happen, which is too bad. We hope that it won’t take so long. Winning the World Cup has been shown to be very hard. It depends on a lot of things, not just a great group and team, and sometimes you can’t win because of small things. Let’s have fun with the third start.”
So, you don’t want to say thanks to Martinez for helping you score your 800th goal?
